By Jeremy Harness
AP photo: So Yeon Ryu holds the ball after making a birdie on the sixth green at Lake Merced in San Francisco at the LPGA Swinging Skirts on Thursday
DALY CITY–So Yeon Ryu has been on a bit of a downward trend lately, but she showed a huge signs of coming out of that Thursday morning.
Ryu, who was in contention in the final round of this tournament last year, made a big statement early on. The Korean set a new tournament course record by firing a 63 to take a two-stroke lead in Thursday’s opening-round action of the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic at Lake Merced Golf Club.
Ryu, who last won in 2014 at the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open and had fallen out of the top-10 in the Rolex rankings recently, really got things going from the get-go.
After a par at the 10th, where she began her round on Thursday, she birdied seven of the next eight holes. Ryu then added two more birdies on the second nine and did not record a single bogey.
However, as well as she played, Ryu did not exactly run away with the lead. That’s because Japan’s Haru Nomura, who won the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open in February and finished tied for fifth in the Honda LPGA Thailand the next week, shot a 65 to find herself only two strokes behind Ryu.
Candie Kung is in the same spot as Noimura. The Chinese Taipei native, whose best finish this season is a tie for fourth in the HSBC Women’s Champions in early March, also fired a seven-under 65.
Lydia Ko, who has won each of the two previous tournaments here (the Swinging Skirts began play in 2014), is within striking distance, as she shot a four-under 68 to go into Friday trailing by five shots.
Meanwhile, Pleasanton native Paula Creamer will need a big second round, as she shot an even-par 72 and is currently nine strokes shy of the lead. San Jose native Christina Kim finds herself in a similar position, as she also finished the first round even-par.
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