China’s Shanshan Feng takes Open lead

Shanshan Feng shot a bogey-free 6-under 66 and held a one-shot lead over Amy Yang on Thursday when the first round of the U.S. Women’s Open at a quiet Trump National Golf Club was suspended by darkness.

Despite complaints over playing the biggest event in women’s golf on a course owned by President Donald Trump, there were no apparent protests Thursday over his comments about women. The road outside the club was relatively traffic-free and those in in attendance were there for the golf.

The only problem was the weather. Lightning delayed play for 2 hours, 5 minutes late in the afternoon and 30 players were still on the course when the horn sounded to stop play for the day at 8:33 p.m. Play was scheduled to resume at 7 a.m. Friday.

Nelly Korda, who teed off in the final group of the day on the 10th hole, was among those still on the course. She and 38 others will return to the course Friday morning to resume play before beginning the second round.

Korda is at 3-under-par through 13 holes of her round. Playing in her third U.S. Open, she birdied two of her first three holes and added a birdie on the 15th, her sixth hole of the day, before the lightning arrived. She returned to the course and bogeyed the par-4 17th before making the turn and birdieing the second hole.

She is in an eight-way tie for sixth although 10 other players yet to complete their round are within two shots of her.

Korda, a Bradenton resident, is scheduled to tee off in the final group of the morning wave of tee times in Friday’s second round. Although she will have a couple of hours break between finishing her first round and beginning her second, Korda is likely to finish her second round, weather permitting, on Friday.

Because of the delayed start of the second round, those with afternoon tee times, such as Korda’s older sister, Jessica, may not. She was originally scheduled to tee off in the second round at 1:25 p.m., but that was without tee times being delayed so the first round can be completed.

Jessica Korda struggled in the first round, shooting a 3-over par 75. She, too, started well, birdieing the first and fourth holes to get to 2-under. However, three consecutive bogeys at the turn (holes 8 through 10) put her over par. She bogeyed the 13th and 17th holes to finish nine shots off the pace.

Naples amateur Emma Bradley, who earned the automatic berth from the qualifying tournament at Sara Bay Country Club in June, struggled to a 10-over-par 82, tied with Meghan MacLaren for last place among those who finished their rounds Thursday.

Lydia Ko played in the same threesome with Feng and finished at 68 along with top-ranked So Yeon Ryu, the only two-time winner this year on the LPGA Tour. Carlota Ciganda also was 4 under with a hole left.

Feng started her round on the 10th hole and played the back side in 5 under, rolling in five birdies. The Chinese star added another at No. 1 and then parred her last eight holes. She won a major, the LPGA Championship, in 2012 for the first of her seven LPGA Tour titles.

Yang has two seconds, a third and a fourth in the event in the last five years. The South Korean player had six birdies and a bogey. She took advantage of the back nine, playing it in 4 under.

Former Open winner Cristie Kerr and Megan Khang were the best U.S. finishers, tied at 69. Amateur Rachel Heck, the 15-year-old from Memphis, Tennessee, who is the youngest player in the field, also was at 3 under with five holes to play. Third-ranked Lexi Thompson was at 71, along with Stacy Lewis.

Defending champion Brittany Lang had a 72 in a round where the players who teed off in the morning had the better conditions.

Second-ranked Ariya Jutanugarn shot 79.

This story was originally published July 13, 2017 at 9:48 PM with the headline "China’s Shanshan Feng takes Open lead."