1. The right “approach” pays off

Hyo-Joo Kim and Xiyu Lin shared the Day 1 lead with matching four-under 68s. Kim and Lin were also first (4.48) and third (3.77), respectively, in SG/putting. Only Nasa Hataoka (eighth) of the six players at T-3 is in the top 10 of SG/putting.

However, the majority of players in the top 10 on the leaderboard are also in top 12 in SG/approach with amateur Aine Donegan in first (4.35), Allisen Corpuz in fourth (3.78), Bailey Tardy in fifth (3.58), Hae Ran Ryu in sixth (3.58), Leona Maguire in eighth (3.28), and Hataoka in 12th (3.05). Surprisingly, the leaders trail by a decent margin, with Kim in 25th (1.9) and Lin in 38th (1.43).

2. Annika Sorenstam’s still got it … around the green

Ezra Shaw

Posting an 80, even for Sorenstam at 52, seems inconceivable for one of the game’s all-time greats. Sorenstam finished in last in SG/off the tee, making sense, given she only hit one fairway. A lone bright spot was ending up with 2.51 SG/around the green, the sixth-best in the field. While her capabilities on a major venue are different from what they were in her prime, the 72-time winner needed no data to know the best part of her game Thursday.

“I’m disappointed in that [80], but I fought really hard,” Sorenstam said. “I thought I made some great saves. It sounds funny when you have this score, but I did.”

3. An amateur leads the field in this SG stat

Donegan, an amateur from Ireland who plays college golf at LSU, posted a 69 despite her clubs not arriving until Tuesday. That makes her 4.35 SG/approach stat even more impressive, particularly too considering she hit only 12 greens in regulation. The Irishwoman bested defending US Women’s Open champion Minjee Lee in the category, with the Australian sitting at 4.05 SG/approach.

Donegan’s driver clubhead also arrived smashed to Pebble Beach, but she raved about the replacement one she put into her bag this week, saying it fueled her ability to play well into the greens by outperforming the field from the tee box as well. Donegan sits in second in SG/off the tee (1.58).

4. One of the most consistent US Women’s Open performers leads SG/off the tee

Harry How

Megan Khang has rattled off three consecutive top-10s at the US Women’s Open and is lurking at five shots off the pace after the first round. Her secret sauce might lie in her ability from the tee, as finding 13 of 14 fairways contributed to her leading 1.84 SG/off the tee. That’s .26 ahead of Donegan. In a reminder of how distinct SG/off the tee is, compared to driving distance, the longest player in the field Thursday, Amelia Garvey, sits in 114th in SG/off the tee at -.39.

5. Michelle Wie West didn’t lie—she doesn’t like putting drills

Entering Wie West’s final competitive start, she shared the thing she won’t miss the most.

“The putting drills that I’m doing, you’d best believe I’m not going to do another putting drill for the rest of my life if I don’t need to,” Wie West said.

Fitting, then, that the 2014 US Women’s Open winner finished last in the field in SG/putting at -4.18. Wie West carded a 79, sitting T-126. Impressively, she kept her touch, finishing 11th in SG/around the green (2.01).

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Smashing drivers down the centre of Pebble’s fairways are crucial to succeeding on the trouble-filled course. Irish amateur Aine Donegan, 21, playing in her first-ever professional tournament at the US Women’s Open, hit 12 of 14 fairways on her way to a three-under-par 69 Thursday, a stroke off the lead.

Before the start of the tournament, however, after a 30-hour travel day from Scotland to San Francisco, Donegan dealt with another smashed driver — the clubhead on hers was broken when it finally arrived with the rest of her clubs Tuesday.

“It’s like everything happens for a reason, that the clubs were late, and then the driver came, and it was broken, and all of a sudden, I have no choice but to put this Ping driver in,” Donegan said.

When Donegan arrived at Pebble Beach, the LSU sophomore went to the Ping truck to get replacement clubs. She and Gary Madden, her coach and caddie this week, knew they’d have a tough decision to make with how well she practised with the new driver. In a fortunate outcome from a trying twist of fortune, the decision was made for them with the broken club.

@united I am not happy with you. My clubs finally arrived to Pebble Beach for the @uswomensopen and my driver is destroyed pic.twitter.com/hF0kwMK7oz

— aine donegan (@DoneganAine) July 4, 2023

The rest of her preparation felt storied. Donegan signed autographs for young fans who provided a mirror of her younger self. She had a practice round with Annika Sorenstam, who casually answered that she won three US Women’s Opens when Donegan inquired. She called LSU teammate Ingrid Lindblad, who was low amateur at last year’s US Women’s Open and carded a 65 in the first round to sit in second place, for advice on how things worked, particularly getting tickets to her family.

Donegan kept her Ping driver, three-wood, and hybrid in her bag, turning back to her old irons. Still, her opening round began nervy, reflecting her week. Donegan, starting on the difficult No. 10, bogeyed the first two, scrambled to save par the next two, and jarred a 96-yard 50-degree wedge for eagle on her sixth hole. It all amounted to even par, settling Donegan before posting five more birdies over the rest of her round.

“That’s one thing we talk a lot about with the team is competitive toughness,” LSU Women’s Head Coach Garrett Runion, who was at Pine Needles and on the ground at Pebble this week, said. “She just kept her head down and kept her composure and had a few things go her way and was able to post an excellent round.”

Donegan’s three under marks back-to-back US Women’s Opens with an amateur Tiger near the top of the leaderboard after the first round. Lindblad, now a senior at LSU, carded a 65 at Pine Needles last year to sit a stroke off the lead. Donegan leads three amateurs in the top five of the leaderboard through the morning wave.

“It’s been great,” Runion, said. “I think Ingrid was obviously the number one amateur in the world. That [performance] was less surprising maybe, to see.”

The top-of-the-leader board performance may be a shock, given Donegan’s 144th spot in the Women’s Amateur Golf Rankings. Her recent amateur performances, however, speak otherwise. She finished in the top 15 in all but one of her spring events and finished T-6 at the R&A’s Women’s Amateur stroke play. Donegan beat Lindblad in match play, 2 and 1, at the Vagliano Trophy in Scotland last Saturday.

The extensive travel across the world to Pebble didn’t change the style of golf much for Donegan. The wind reminds her of the Irish links courses. For now, Donegan’s basking in the opportunity to be in contention in her first professional tournament.

“The whole thing has been a bit surreal, to be honest,” Dunegan said. “Nearly every five minutes it’s a pinch-me movement. Even just walking to the putting green and young girls asking for autographs and stuff. It’s like, that was me. And to do it at a place like Pebble Beach is something I’ll never forget.”

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