The biggest shock, the best quote, the brutal shooting from St. Andrews, Day 1
Charley Hull opened with a five-under 67.
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Our reporter from St. Andrews Sean Zak is at the AIG Women’s Open this week. Here he joins fellow statesider Dylan Dethier to feast on 40 mph winds, twinkling stars, the vibe in town and one bad quote.
Dylan Dethier, senior GOLF writer: Hello, Sean.
Sean Zak, also a senior writer for GOLF: Hello, Dylan.
DD: Here’s the deal. I’ve been watching the AIG Women’s Open from my couch and my new favorite Seattle coffee shop. You are there in person – you feel the wind in your hair, the fescue under your feet, the haggis in your stomach etc. So I asked you a few questions.
SZ: Hit me.
DD: First, what is it like to be in St. Andrews to you personally? You are something of an American ambassador there, after all, who lived there in the summer of 2022 – the summer of the arrival of LIV and Cam Smith who returned with nine, among other things – and wrote a book about your life there. How does it come back?
SZ: It’s amazing! One thing about St. Andrews makes me very happy that it never changes. The storefronts look like they were settled two summers ago and one summer ago and, perhaps, how they will look next summer. The 18th hole of the Old Course will remain the same for the week of the big tournament, with big blue bleachers in front of the big Hamilton Grand, auburn, bordering that white fence. The only big change for me is that I’m staying in one of the student dorms this week. I hope to meet a card or two there.
DD: I stumbled upon the cold waters of the North Sea. Anyway, Day 1 is in the books. I know you just finished a report on conditions. In summary: How dull was Thursday at the Old Course? And did one side of the painting get a tangible benefit?
SZ: It was as windy as I’ve ever seen St. Andrews. I wasn’t there in 2015 when the Open was postponed due to wind, but today should have been close to that, if not more. We had a lot of women hit driver, 3 wood on the first hole. And most of the course – holes 3 through 16 – is played in a brutal wind. There is just no comfort in that. And you’ve also seen players backing up shots off the tee, fairway and greens. As for the draw, the afternoon benefited greatly. By 6pm the wind had calmed down a bit, and the scores reflected that. We had less than four rounds in the morning and, with a few players still going, just over twelve in the afternoon.
DD: There’s been a few big headlines coming — World No. 1 Nelly Korda is trying to end a winning season in style, Lydia Ko is coming off her gold medal, Lauren Coughlin is building on two wins, Lexi Thompson is playing in the finals of her last (ish) season. , Charley Hull chasing his first (ish) home shutout, Catriona Matthew announcing her retirement, etc. In round one, which storyline catches your eye?
SZ: It’s Charley Hull leading the golf tournament. I think? Or Nelly Korda, one shot back. Or Lilia Vu’s title defense – she’s beaten Korda back. The reason I won’t mention it is because a large group of fans followed those three Thursdays, and it wasn’t closed. I think that has a lot to do with Hull’s famous launch this summer, after puffing on one bad cigarette in the autograph line and not he apologizes for it. He is responsible for himself, which brings us closer to him. Like Brooks Koepka can sometimes. After shooting a five-under 67 on Thursday, he could have St. Andrews in a cool place this weekend. And then he can cause a stir by doing what Koepka did and visiting a clubby bar in town, the Vic.
DD: Might have to hit Vic on Sunday night no matter what, for reporting purposes. What was the biggest surprise of the day?
‘My head is pounding’: 40 mph winds push Women’s Open field to edge
Sean Zak
SZ: It should have been Ruoning Yin. He was six under at noon today, when nobody was better than two under. Yes, he supported, because basically everyone supported that time of day. But at 68 the morning was amazing. After that he told us that he was “just trying to cheer up my friend,” which I really liked.
DD: Good. What was the quote of the day in the interview?
SZ: Georgia Hall made an eagle on the 9th, her 18th hole of the day, and was in an incredibly eloquent mood afterward. He came in and shared this beauty:
“I look in my hotel room and I can see the width, the flags are on the side and that’s a good indicator for me. It was five o’clock in the morning and the wind was blowing. I said, Tthe hat is good. I hope it stays that way.“
His eyes were open, he was happy. It was cool.
“I’m not sure that many players will agree with me,” he added. “I can’t play like this. I play in America a lot, and for me it’s a golf course made of wood. This is natural, raw golf.”
I had to go back and listen to that quote over and over to make sure it was accurate. I think he was saying with wood golf in a particularly British way, meaning stiff, boring, thoughtless. There is a different kind of wood here. Driftwood wood. Old, decrepit trees washed ashore. Natural and green. That’s the vibe. Good.
DD: Hell yeah. Finally, what’s one interesting, maybe a little random thing you saw today that made you so happy to be back in Old Man?
SZ: Gabbi Ruffels played her tee shot on the 11th into the small ravine between the 11th and 7th greens, but she was on the dance floor. He chose to strike the sword from there, threw it in the air and was so repulsed by the wind that I almost fell off my seat on the stage. I wrote that his football looks like a crippled plane going off course. It ended up under the green and he made three bogeys, en route to an 81. Ouch! Note: use a putter.
DD: Thank you friends. Go to the bars you go to. Maybe we’ll do this again tomorrow.
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