Ashleigh Buhai opened the LPGA Tour’s Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give at Blythfield Country Club in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with a three-under-par 69 on Thursday to put herself in a share of 38th after the first round.
She made five birdies and two bogeys in one of her better recent opening rounds, and was four shots off the lead held by Japan’s Nasa Hataoka, Leona Maguire of Ireland, Charley Hull of England and American Lauren Stephenson. Those four had a one-stroke lead over Min Lee of Chinese Taipei and Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn on five-under.
Buhai bogeyed the third, but picked up that dropped shot immediately with a birdie on four. She made a pair of birdies around the turn on nine and 10. She went bogey-birdie on 13 and 14, and picked up her final shot with a birdie on the 18th.
Paula Reto opened with a four-over 76 to be in a share of 135th and has plenty of work to do in the second round if she is to make the cut.
