The relentless winds which have whipped off St. Andrews Bay have given the very best feminine gamers on the earth absolute matches on day one of many AIG Girls’s Open.
Solely a handful of gamers are at even par or higher by way of 18 holes, together with Rose Zhang, who posted an even-par 72 on Thursday. However Zhang gave a reasonably blunt evaluation of how issues went after her first skilled spherical on the Previous Course at St. Andrews.
“That was powerful,” Zhang mentioned.
“My head is pounding.”
Forty-mile-per-hour gusts pressured gamers to suppose lengthy and laborious about find out how to play their subsequent shot. After all, that led to a gradual tempo of play on Thursday—a glacial spherical that took nearly six hours to finish. However event organizers knew the wind would blow this tough, so that they despatched the sphere off from cut up tees and slowed the speeds down on the greens. The R&A didn’t wish to have a delay on Thursday.
“Normally, the greens are sooner, so the ball is definitely rolling on the greens,” Zhang added.
“However I’ve by no means needed to again off so many putts. I’m standing and shedding stability. It was positively memorable.”
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On the seventh gap—her third to final gap of the day—Zhang mentioned that her ball moved barely due to the wind. She then positioned it again in its unique spot and proceeded from there.
“You get nervousness pondering, did I simply do one thing? However the actuality is Mom Nature determined to maneuver your ball a bit,” Zhang mentioned.
“That was the craziest factor.”
Zhang made a bogey on the seventh, her second consecutive dropped shot.
She really birdied the well-known seventeenth and 18th holes earlier within the day and made the flip with a 2-under 34 on the again 9. However no extra birdies came visiting the course of her second 9.
“I wasn’t occupied with my rating an excessive amount of, particularly since each single shot, you need to be so current, and you need to be grinding, staying dedicated to each single factor you’re doing on the market,” Zhang mentioned.
“I really feel prefer it’s really easy to lose focus, particularly while you hit some errant pictures or have actually lengthy putts for birdie or par. I actually attempt to keep affected person on the market. Persistence requires you to carry nonetheless and be dedicated to each single shot you’re hitting, and that’s the dedication that endurance that I had on the market, and I’m fairly happy with how I did, particularly down the stretch.”
Contemplating all this, it ought to shock no person that Zhang’s head was pounding. But when somebody did admit to not feeling anxious or annoyed on Thursday, that may absolutely shock everyone. St. Andrew’s took no prisoners and can proceed to take action because the week wears on.
Jack Milko is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Enjoying By. Remember to take a look at @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You may observe him on Twitter @jack_milko as nicely.
