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Woburn, England • Mirim Lee shot a 10-under 62 on Thursday to match the Women's British Open record and open a three-stroke lead in the major championship at tree-lined Woburn Golf Club.
Three weeks after shooting a 64 in the first round of the U.S. Women's Open, the 25-year-old South Korean player made the last of her 10 birdies on the par-3 17th and closed with a par.
Lee fell a stroke short of the LPGA Tour major record of 61 set by Hyo Joo Kim in the first round of the 2014 Evian Championship. Minea Blomqvist shot a 62 in the third round of the 2004 Women's British Open at Sunningdale, and Lorena Ochoa had a 62 in first round of the 2006 Kraft Nabisco. Lee also matched her official LPGA Tour career low set in the second round of the 2014 LPGA Taiwan.
"I've shot 11 under before," Lee said. "It was back in, I think, second round of LPGA Q-School, final stage. Just so happens my caddie at the time [John Kileen] was my caddie today."
Ariya Jutanugarn was second after a bogey-free 65.
"I love this course," said Jutanugarn, the long-hitting Thai player won three straight events in May.
China's Shanshan Feng had a 66, and American Stacy Lewis and South Korea's Mi Hyang Lee shot 67.
Lee birdied the first two holes, added another on the fourth and made five straight on Nos. 7-11 to reach 8 under. She also birdied the par-3 13th on the Marquess Course, the forest layout that is a big change from the seaside links that dominate the tournament rotation.
"When you normally think of British Open, you think of high roughs, difficult roughs," Lee said. "But here it feels more like California, so I think that really made me feel comfortable."
In California at CordeValle in the U.S. Women's Open, she followed her opening 64 with rounds of 74, 76 and 73 to tie for 11th. She missed the cut in the ANA Inspiration to start the major year, and tied for fourth in the KPMG Women's PGA.
"I think the difference is that now I'm trying to have fun," Lee said. "I'm trying to enjoy it, whereas in the beginning of the year, things weren't really going well for me, so I really put a lot of work into it and I think it's just natural that it's showing, the hard work is showing now."
Lee missed the cut in 2014 in her only other appearance in the event. She sat out last year because of a left thumb injury, and still tapes the thumb as a precaution.
"There's no pain." Lee said. "I'm just using it to prevent getting injured. It's just from hitting too many balls and practicing too much."
She won her two LPGA Tour titles in 2014.
Lewis won in 2013 at St. Andrews. She's winless in 56 starts since June 2014.
"Played real really solid. Didn't make any bogeys," Lewis said. "It was great playing with Ariya. She was on fire early, which told me I needed to be aggressive and keep up."
Feng misjudged the timing of the player shuttle and nearly missed her tee time. She ran to arrive just before the announcer started introducing their group.
"Once I showed up, I said 'I'm here!'" Feng said. "I wanted to make sure they saw me."
Charley Hull, the English star playing on her home course, opened with a 69.
"Honestly, the first tee shot today was probably the most nervous I've ever been on a golf course," the 20-year-old Hull said. "I never usually get nervous, so it was quite weird."
U.S. Women's Amateur champion Hannah O'Sullivan had a 70.
Top-ranked Lydia Ko was tied for 89th after a 74. She bogeyed her final two holes.
"My short game wasn't that great to cover up for the missed shots and when I did hit it close, the putts didn't go in," Ko said. "When that's the case, you're not going to shoot a low score."
She's coming off a victory two weeks ago in Ohio, her fourth LPGA Tour win of the year.
Second-ranked Brooke Henderson was tied for 31st at 71.
"I do feel I left some shots out there," Henderson said. "I gave myself tons of opportunities."
Ko and Henderson were off last week while many players competed in the UL International Crown team matches in Illinois.
The tournament is the fourth of the LPGA Tour's five major championships. Ko won the Evian last season for her first major and made it two straight at the ANA Inspiration in April. She then lost a playoff to Henderson in the KPMG Women's PGA. American Brittany Lang won the U.S. Women's Open.
Lang, and fourth-ranked Lexi Thompson shot 72. Thompson teamed with Lewis, Cristie Kerr (72) and Gerina Piller (73) in the Americans' International Crown.
Michelle Wie had a 76. She played the first eight holes in 4 over with a birdie, three bogeys and a double bogey, then parred the final 10 holes.
Third-ranked Inbee Park, the winner last year at Turnberry, is sidelined by a lingering left thumb injury. She hopes to be ready to compete for South Korea in the Olympics. —
Thursday's results
Women's British Open
At Woburn Golf & Country Club (Marquess Course)
Milton Keynes, England
Purse: $3 million Yardage: 6,463 Par: 72 (36-36)
First Round
a-amateur
Mirim Lee 30-32 — 62 -10
Ariya Jutanugarn 32-33 — 65 -7
Shanshan Feng 32-34 — 66 -6
Stacy Lewis 33-34 — 67 -5
Mi Hyang Lee 32-35 — 67 -5
Azahara Munoz 32-36 — 68 -4
Ha Na Jang 33-35 — 68 -4
Sarah Jane Smith 34-34 — 68 -4
Alena Sharp 36-32 — 68 -4
Mo Martin 34-34 — 68 -4
Beatriz Recari 33-36 — 69 -3
Sei Young Kim 35-34 — 69 -3
Yani Tseng 34-35 — 69 -3
Teresa Lu 33-36 — 69 -3
So Yeon Ryu 32-37 — 69 -3
In-Kyung Kim 33-36 — 69 -3
Moriya Jutanugarn 34-35 — 69 -3
a-Maria Parra 35-34 — 69 -3
Karrie Webb 33-36 — 69 -3
Mika Miyazato 36-33 — 69 -3
Brittany Lincicome 37-32 — 69 -3
Charley Hull 35-34 — 69 -3
Beth Allen 37-33 — 70 -2
Catriona Matthew 38-32 — 70 -2
a-Hannah O'Sullivan 37-33 — 70 -2
Camilla Lennarth 36-34 — 70 -2
Sandra Gal 34-36 — 70 -2
Jennifer Song 35-35 — 70 -2
Vicky Hurst 33-37 — 70 -2
a-Bronte Law 36-34 — 70 -2
Minjee Lee 36-35 — 71 -1
Alison Lee 34-37 — 71 -1
Brooke Henderson 35-36 — 71 -1
Marina Alex 36-35 — 71 -1
Angel Yin 36-35 — 71 -1
Angela Stanford 37-34 — 71 -1
a-Luna Sobron 37-34 — 71 -1
a-Leona Maguire 35-36 — 71 -1
Megan Khang 36-35 — 71 -1
Tiffany Joh 35-36 — 71 -1
Brittany Altomare 35-36 — 71 -1
Jodi Ewart Shadoff 35-36 — 71 -1
Laetitia Beck 36-35 — 71 -1
Ashleigh Simon 36-35 — 71 -1
Maude-Aimee Leblanc 37-34 — 71 -1
Haru Nomura 34-38 — 72 E
Anna Nordqvist 36-36 — 72 E
Lizette Salas 35-37 — 72 E
Felicity Johnson 37-35 — 72 E
In Gee Chun 36-36 — 72 E
Gaby Lopez 36-36 — 72 E
Candie Kung 35-37 — 72 E
Hee-Kyung Bae 35-37 — 72 E
Nicole Broch Larsen 34-38 — 72 E
Ryann O'Toole 36-36 — 72 E
Melissa Reid 36-36 — 72 E
Cristie Kerr 37-35 — 72 E
Brittany Lang 37-35 — 72 E
Lexi Thompson 38-34 — 72 E
Ai Suzuki 36-36 — 72 E
Amy Boulden 36-36 — 72 E
Maria McBride 35-37 — 72 E
Jiyai Shin 36-36 — 72 E
Isabelle Boineau 34-38 — 72 E
Cydney Clanton 34-38 — 72 E
Sung Hyun Park 36-36 — 72 E
Marta Sanz 35-37 — 72 E
Annie Park 35-37 — 72 E
Isabella Ramsay 36-36 — 72 E
Suzann Pettersen 37-36 — 73 +1
Cheyenne Woods 39-34 — 73 +1
Yukari Nishiyama 35-38 — 73 +1
Karine Icher 37-36 — 73 +1
Jenny Shin 36-37 — 73 +1
Lee-Anne Pace 36-37 — 73 +1
Kim Kaufman 36-37 — 73 +1
Su-Hyun Oh 38-35 — 73 +1
Paula Reto 35-38 — 73 +1
Liz Young 35-38 — 73 +1
Nanna Koerstz Madsen 36-37 — 73 +1
Ai Miyazato 37-36 — 73 +1
Gerina Piller 37-36 — 73 +1
Nuria Iturrios 36-37 — 73 +1
Pernilla Lindberg 35-38 — 73 +1
Na Yeon Choi 35-38 — 73 +1
Emily Kristine Pedersen 33-40 — 73 +1
Kelly Shon 36-37 — 73 +1
Lydia Hall 35-38 — 73 +1
Laura Davies 37-37 — 74 +2
Sakura Yokomine 36-38 — 74 +2
Becky Morgan 36-38 — 74 +2
Holly Clyburn 37-37 — 74 +2
Mi Jung Hur 39-35 — 74 +2
MariaJo Uribe 37-37 — 74 +2
Sun Young Yoo 37-37 — 74 +2
Eun Hee Ji 38-36 — 74 +2
Lina Boqvist 35-39 — 74 +2
Mina Harigae 35-39 — 74 +2
Lydia Ko 37-37 — 74 +2
Carlota Ciganda 36-38 — 74 +2
Christina Kim 38-36 — 74 +2
Chloe Leurquin 36-38 — 74 +2
Hee Young Park 37-37 — 74 +2
Nontaya Srisawang 38-36 — 74 +2
Pornanong Phatlum 37-37 — 74 +2
Wei-Ling Hsu 37-37 — 74 +2
Jessica Korda 35-40 — 75 +3
Momoko Ueda 36-39 — 75 +3
a-Olivia Mehaffey 36-39 — 75 +3
Marianne Skarpnord 38-37 — 75 +3
Austin Ernst 38-37 — 75 +3
Hyo Joo Kim 37-38 — 75 +3
Jing Yan 38-37 — 75 +3
Chella Choi 38-37 — 75 +3
Rebecca Artis 38-37 — 75 +3
Jacqui Concolino 36-39 — 75 +3
Katie Burnett 36-39 — 75 +3
Danielle Kang 37-38 — 75 +3
Brianna Do 37-38 — 75 +3
Kelly Tan 39-36 — 75 +3
Gwladys Nocera 39-36 — 75 +3
Charlotte Ellis 38-37 — 75 +3
Lee Lopez 39-37 — 76 +4
Florentyna Parker 38-38 — 76 +4
Ilhee Lee 39-37 — 76 +4
a-Julia Engstrom 35-41 — 76 +4
Asuka Kashiwabara 38-38 — 76 +4
Paula Creamer 38-38 — 76 +4
Michelle Wie 40-36 — 76 +4
Caroline Masson 40-36 — 76 +4
Anne Van Dam 35-41 — 76 +4
Morgan Pressel 40-37 — 77 +5
Georgia Hall 37-40 — 77 +5
Q Baek 39-38 — 77 +5
Noora Tamminen 37-40 — 77 +5
Linda Wessberg 37-40 — 77 +5
Caroline Hedwall 36-41 — 77 +5
Stacey Keating 39-39 — 78 +6
XiYu Lin 37-41 — 78 +6
Kylie Walker 38-40 — 78 +6
Maha Haddioui 39-39 — 78 +6
Pamela Pretswell 44-35 — 79 +7
Aditi Ashok 39-40 — 79 +7
Amelia Lewis 39-41 — 80 +8