Aussie Lee off to quick start in LPGA Match-Play

Minjee Lee opened her LPGA Match-Play campaign with a 6&5 triumph against Chun Young-in at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Wednesday, fresh off her eighth US LPGA title at the Founders Cup.

Lee, the top seed in the 64-player field and ranked fourth in the world, took charge with back-to-back birdies on the third and fourth holes. She birdied six and seven, eagled the ninth, and then won the tenth and eleventh holes with pars.

Chun won the 12th hole with a birdie, but Lee took the match after the 13th hole was halved.

“It was really fun today,” said Lee, whose victory two weeks ago in New Jersey was her first since she captured her maiden major at the Evian Championship last year.

“I made a bunch of birdies. It was nice to get done early today — it’s getting really hot.

“It’s nice to have played really well today and hopefully I can take it into tomorrow,” said Lee, who said her competitive nature made the tour’s rare foray into match-play especially enjoyable.

The first of three days of round-robin play saw a number of lopsided victories, notably Malaysian Kelly Tan’s 7&6 victory over injured American Danielle Kang.

With a par at the second, Tan established a one-shot lead and never looked back.

As Kang, who had withdrawn from two of her last three competitions due to back problems, tried to stay up, she won six straight holes starting at the fifth. Only three of them were birdies.

The American, who resides in Las Vegas and was hoping for home-field advantage in her comeback, failed to make a birdie or win a hole.

“I gave myself a lot of chances,” Tan said. “It looked like she was in a little bit of pain and I kind of felt a little bad, but me and my caddie just tried to focus on our game. The end goal is to win the match.”

Gaby Lopez of Mexico had a better comeback from back and neck problems, defeating South Korean veteran Chella Choi 6&5.

Lopez claimed that her recent break has benefited her both psychologically and physically.

“Sometimes we get caught up so much into the bubble of golf and you’re so drawn into what are you doing wrong and what do you need to improve,” she said.

“Sometimes taking time off kind of fixes everything by itself.”

Tiffany Chan of Hong Kong got off to a great start with a 3&2 victory over Thai Atthaya Thitikul, who was seeded second.

Ally Ewing’s title defense got off to a shaky start when she lost 6&5 to Jodi Ewart Shadoff of England.

Sophia Popov of Germany, who finished second to Ewing last year, was defeated 2&1 by Jenny Shin of South Korea.