The 2016 U.S. Women’s Open is underway at CordeValle in San Martin, CA and the final ball count is in… once again Titleist is the overwhelming golf ball of choice.
This week, as the best women in golf vie for one of the most prestigious crowns in the game, 111 players will trust the Pro V1 or Pro V1x for their success. That’s more than 10 times the nearest competitor with 11 and more than all competitors combined.
The rough is high on the 6,762-yard, par-72 CordeValle layout and the greens are rolling at U.S. Open speed, but in the early going a number of players showed that they're up for the challenge. Titleist golf ball loyalist Mirim Lee (Pro V1x) got off to a blistering start, birdieing five of her last seven holes en route to an 8-under-par 64 on Thursday morning. Lee's performance matched the lowest score to par ever recorded in U.S. Women’s Open history.
"Yeah, this fun," said the 25-year-old South Korean. "Everything was good. A couple of missed putts, but not bad. The course is perfect now. Greens are really fast. I just tried to make par."
Lee has a three-shot lead after the first round, followed by three players, including fellow Titleist golf ball loyalists Amy Yang (Pro V1) and Cristie Kerr (Pro V1), who played with Lee on Thursday.
"We played in the morning and took advantage of it, obviously," said Kerr. "Mirim had almost a career round today. And it was fun. I don't know if you looked at Mirim's card and my card, we might have shot 59 best ball, or close to it."
Kerr and Yang each fired 5-under-par 67s. Yang's was the low round of the afternoon draw, when course conditions got tougher.
"The course was a lot drier than the last three days of practice," explained Amy Yang after her round. "And also it was windy, much windier out there, and it was swirling from different ways. But I hit so many solid shots, especially from tee boxes. Hitting on to the fairways is the most important thing."
Like many players in the national championship field, Yang stressed that she'll maintain a conservative approach the rest of the way. Like Kerr, she knows that the course conditions will only become more challenging this weekend.
"I definitely expect it to change," Kerr intimated. "I don't think the USGA likes when we shoot 8-under on their golf course. You have to expect it to change."
Good luck to all of #TeamTitleist this weekend!