CP Women's Open 2017: Marina Alex leads after Day 1

Rudi Schuller

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CP Women's Open 2017: Marina Alex leads after Day 1 image

Marina Alex is looking forward to sleeping in.

After teeing off at 7:54 a.m. local time for the first round of the Canadian Pacific Women's Open on Thursday, Alex shot a 5-under 66 to claim the lead at the event in Ottawa. Her position atop the leaderboard comes with a perk, as she'll be among the later tee times when play starts for Round 2 on Friday.

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"It'll be nice to get to sleep in," Alex said to reporters with a grin. "I was really early yesterday too, so I'm kind of excited for a sleep-in."

The 27-year-old had a strong putting game on the first official day of competition, helping her climb to the top of the leaderboard.

In her own words, Alex "putted unbelievably well" on Thursday, leading to four birdies on the back nine. She credited the course conditions for her strong short game, comparing the greens at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club to those on the course in New Jersey where the U.S. Open was held earlier this year.

"The greens are amazing," Alex said. "When we were practicing the last couple of days, and especially yesterday now that things have dried out after the rain, I thought that they were almost just as fast as what we played on at the U.S. Open. They are rolling unbelievably well, really quick.

"The nice thing is, they're still a bit soft so the shots are holding onto the green, so it kind of makes for a good combo. You can hit shots in there pretty tight and then you have really nice pace to hold them."

Meanwhile, world No. 1 So Yeon Ryu had a mixed bag on the first day, hitting five birdies and three bogeys en route to a 2-under 69. She is tied for 11th, three shots back of Alex.

Canadians struggle

World No. 10 Brooke Henderson was among several Canadians who had a less-than-stellar start to the tournament.

The 19-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont., finished the day tied for 107th place after shooting a 3-over 74. 

"It was a little bit of a mixed day," Henderson said. "I hit the ball, for the majority, extremely well but the putter kind of let me down at times."

Henderson summed up her troubles on the greens, which included only one birdie to go with two bogeys and a double-bogey: "One birdie, that's the real problem. You can't go around this course and only have one birdie everyday."

Tied for 80th place at +2, Maude-Aimee Leblanc, Brittany Marchand and Augusta James were the best Canadians on the day. Jennifer Ha (+3) ended the round tied with Henderson and several other players in 107th, while a handful of additional Canadians were further down the leaderboard.

Rudi Schuller