Jersey City - It's rare that both the first and second alternates get called into action at an LPGA tournament, but it's rarer still to see both of those alternates sitting at the top of a tournament leaderboard. Suffice to say, that's precisely what happened at Liberty National Golf Club when second-alternate, So Mi Lee, and first-alternate Mao Saigo finished within the top two spots after the first day of the Mizuho Americas Open.
Lee, who had already sent her caddy home and had to have her father caddy for her in her original caddy's place, said, "I didn't expect to play today, so I (was going to) just go to the park and going to run, but my father said, hey, just go and some practice and you have chance. And this makes this chance."
Lee finished her day with two bogies, but also carded eight birdies, including three in a row from holes 13 to 15, to go into the clubhouse with a 6-under 66 for the day.
"At first it was so windy when I was playing first, but second shot was very great. My second shot was very great, and as long the putting was getting along with my shot, yeah," Lee said of her round, adding, "There was no kind of pressure to me, and it was just appreciated to play, yeah."
Saigo, and three other golfers--Andrea Lee, Bianca Pagdanganan, and Gabriela Ruffels--finished Thursday tied for second at 4-under-par. Ruffels' scorecard was the cleanest of the second-place finishers after day one, with no bogies, and four birdies. Lee and Pagdanganan had two bogies two go along with six birdies, with Lee recording a stretch of four birdies in a row. Saigo had five birdies and one bogey on her scorecard.
Of note, defending Mizuho Americas Open champion, Rose Zhang had to withdraw from the tournament citing illness.
Princeton Commit Leads After Day One of AJGA Tournament
On the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) side of the tournament, Princeton commit, Thanana Kotchasanmanee finished her first round with 38 points to lead the junior field by one point. Elise Lee sits in second place with 37 points, and defending Mizuho Americas Open AJGA champion, Yana Wilson finished the day in third place with 36 points.
"I feel incredible," Kotchasanmanee said of her day, adding, "Actually, well, I just feeling great today. I wake up and I just feel good about it. I have a lot cheering from home. Like my dad, he's like call me and just cheer me up for the day. It's wonderful. It's wonderful."
New Jersey natives Aphrodite Deng and Megan Meng currently sit in 18th and 23rd, with 30 points and 26 points respectively.
The AJGA golfers are using a modified Stableford scoring format that awards points for the number of strokes taken per hole in relation to par.
The Mizuho Americas Open continues Friday in Jersey City with the first golfer of the day teeing off at 7 a.m.
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