Toronto, Aug 22
Four days after capturing her maiden LPGA Tour title at the Portland Classic, Japanese rookie Akie Iwai picked up where she left off on Thursday, carding a seven-under 64 to take a two-stroke lead in the opening round of the Canadian Women's Open.
The 23-year-old was flawless in opening with a bogey-free round at Mississauga Golf and Country Club, a course located 26 kilometres west of downtown Toronto.
Aphrodite Deng Tiexin, a 15-year-old Chinese-Canadian ranked 22nd in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, shot five-under 66 to sit equal second with American Megan Khang, Mexican Gaby Lopez, Ireland's Leona Maguire and Thai Jeeno Thitikul, who ended Nelly Korda's 71-week run at the top of the world rankings earlier this month, reports.
South Korean Joo Soo-bin was seventh on 67 at the 2.6 million U.S. dollar championship.
Liu Yan was the top Chinese as the Xiamen native got to six-under to briefly lead the tournament through 11 holes, but she could not hold it in dropping four strokes over the last six holes to finish on two-under 69.