Two-time major winner Minjee Lee handled the strong wind well and was lucky with rare sunshine in a rainy Scottish summer to shoot a score of 67 (five under par) to move one stroke clear in the Women’s Scottish Open.
Play was halted early on Thursday due to difficult conditions at Dundonald Links.
Former US Women’s Open winner A. Lim Kim and American Megan Khang each shot 68, making them the Australian’s closest rivals.
Lydia Ko, who had just won her Olympic golf medal and was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame, battled the worst of the weather but still managed five birdies in her 69 strokes.
The opening round was interrupted due to bad weather and a wet track.
England’s Lily May Humphreys is four under par with six holes to go. Play was halted for about an hour early on due to rain, and there was a further weather-related delay of two hours and 20 minutes.
Lee had previously had a disappointing Olympic Games outside of Paris, where she was never able to get into the race and ended up finishing only 22nd.
The West Australian played on a difficult course without a bogey and scored birdies on both par 5s of the back nine holes.
“I’m always a happy girl after a bogey-free round,” Lee said. “I think I played smart golf, I would say.”
“I created a lot of opportunities for a birdie. I think when I was in trouble, I kind of missed it in the right places and was able to get up and down, so that was good.”
Lee feels she was lucky not to have to deal with the full force of the rain, even though she couldn’t escape the fierce wind.
“I like the creativity of links golf,” said Lee. “Today it was very windy, so it played like a real links golf course.”
“Sometimes the wind is not so strong, but today it was a storm. I didn’t enjoy playing when I was imagining the shots and having to execute them. Only when you execute them correctly will you be rewarded.”
Ko had it the worst, describing the weather as so chaotic that she was too busy dealing with it to stress out too much.
“If it’s just windy, it’s fine. But it was windy and raining,” Ko said. “It’s difficult when you have to hold the umbrella sideways and not upright. I’m pretty sure it was built to be held vertically. So it’s just very difficult out there.”
Nevertheless, Ko could not complain about the weather.
“It’s just part of the experience of coming here. If you don’t like it, you probably won’t play that well anyway.”
“So it’s more about grit-digging through and knowing that sometimes you’re not on the fairer side of the draw. But that’s part of playing tournaments in this part of the world.”
England’s Charley Hull was battling for the lead until a bogey on the par-5 14th hole halted her momentum. She finished in the 70-stroke group that included Germany’s Esther Henseleit, who won the silver medal at the Paris Games.
The tournament is the last stop before the Women’s British Open next week in St. Andrews.
Australians Stephanie Kyriacou, Gabriela Ruffels and Kirsten Rudgeley are one stroke under par after 18, 17 and 13 holes respectively, while Grace Kim finished with even par.
