Megha Ganne hits from the bunker on the 18th green during the first round of the U.S. Women’s Open on Thursday at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. Ganne, 17, shot a 4-under 67 for a share of the lead with Mel Reid. Jed Jacobsohn/Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — High school junior Megha Ganne shot a 4-under 67 on Thursday to become the first amateur in 15 years to have a share of the lead after any round at the U.S. Women’s Open.
The 17-year-old from New Jersey made back-to-back birdies on the back nine to take sole possession of the lead before making bogey on the 18th hole to end the day in a tie with Mel Reid on the Lake Course at the Olympic Club.
Ganne became the first amateur to lead after a round at the Women’s Open since Jane Park did it after one round at Newport Country Club in 2006.
“I think just my ability to play smart and not take any unnecessary risks, and I didn’t panic when I got into the rough a couple of times out there,” Ganne said of the key to her success. “Because there are definitely holes I wasn’t keeping in the fairway, and it’s easy to panic out there, and I didn’t do that.”
Ganne needed a playoff last month to qualify for her second U.S. Open but felt much more comfortable once she got here than she did two years ago when she missed the cut.
“I think the first time is nerve-racking for anybody and meeting your idols and being on the stage for the first time,” she said. “But the second time around, even the practice rounds, I wasn’t as nervous. I felt like I could come here and just play my game instead of soaking that all in.”
She did just that up the road from Stanford where she plans to go to college after graduating high school next year. She birdied three of the first eight holes and made three more on the back nine to overcome a pair of bogeys.
She made one of her few mistakes on 18 when she hit her approach shot into a greenside bunker.
The notoriously tough Lake Course played a little easier than usual after the rough was trimmed a bit before the round. Fifteen players shot under par, with Canada’s Brooke Henderson, and Americans Angel Yin and Megan Khang one shot back. Henderson three-putted from less than 20 feet on the 18th hole to fall out of a share of the lead.
Lexi Thompson, Yuka Saso and Shanshan Feng were two shots back.
PGA: Collin Morikawa had another favorable result at Muirfield Village on a golf course that looked and sounded a lot different from when he won last year.
Morikawa felt good vibes from an old putter and posted a 6-under 66 in rain-softened conditions at the Memorial. That gave him a one-shot lead over Adam Long among early starters, with Xander Schauffele in the group two shots behind.
The weather was bad enough that the first round was suspended twice, with only half the field finishing the round.
For Morikawa, the name of the tournament is different, too. He won a playoff at Muirfield Village last year in the Workday Charity Open, a one-time event to replace the pandemic-canceled John Deere Classic.
But there’s a comfort level at the course Jack Nicklaus built, no matter how much it has been renovated and reshaped. And it was noisy as the tournament has let at least 25% capacity of fans on the course.
Jon Rahm is the defending champion and faced a far stronger test. Nicklaus knew he was going to be redoing the fairways and greens, so he let them go for the Memorial and conditions were as tough as a U.S. Open.
Rahm did OK in the soft conditions with a 69, tied with British Open champion Shane Lowry, Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler, who needs a runner-up finish to move into the top 60 in the world rankings and avoid U.S. Open qualifying on Monday.
Jordan Spieth, Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy didn’t make it past a couple of holes before the weather stopped everything. They were to return Friday morning to finish the first round, and then go right back out for the second round.
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