Coughlin leads CPKC Women’s Open, Jutanugarn back in groove

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Eight years later, Ariya Jutanugarn picked up right where she left off.

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Jutanugarn is off to a stellar start at the 2024 CPKC Women’s Open at Earl Grey Golf Club, just one shot off the pace after an opening spin of 3-under 69.

Local golf fans won’t be surprised to see Jutanugarn’s name near the top of the leaderboard. They remember her dominant performance in 2016 at Priddis Greens, the last time the LPGA Tour made a stop in Calgary.

“I always have great memories in Canada,” beamed the 28-year-old Jutanugarn. “I love to be in Canada. I just love Canada. I want to come back every time.”

This latest trip is off to a strong start.

Jutanugarn, who hails from Thailand, carded five birdies, two bogeys and a pair of clutch sand saves in Thursday’s first round.

She is trailing only Virginia’s Lauren Coughlin, who finished her business in 4-under 68, and is sharing second with Colorado’s Jennifer Kupcho and Australia’s Olympic duo of Minjee Lee and Hannah Green.

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The crowd at 2-under 70 is headlined by New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, a three-time past champ at this event.

Ontario’s Savannah Grewal and Quebec’s Maude-Aimee LeBlanc are the leading Canadians at 1-under 71, while Brooke Henderson is at even-par.

After signing for her 68, especially impressive on what was a gusty morning at Earl Grey, Coughlin talked about the importance of staying “super patient” in the early stages of her round.

Patience has been an importance asset for Jutanugarn, too.

Back in 2016, when she crushed the competition at Priddis Greens, she was on an incredible hot streak. She won five titles that season, earning a nod as the LPGA Tour’s Player of the Year, and was rocketing toward the top of the women’s world golf rankings. She was just 20 at the time.

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While this should still be the prime of her career, it’s been a much tougher slug for the past few years.

Jutanugarn has now dipped to No. 55 in the world. Her last trophy presentation came in 2021 and she has just one Top-10 showing — a tie for third — in this current campaign.

“I would say I don’t have a good year yet — from starting this tournament to this event,” Jutanugarn said. “And when I played the practice round on Tuesday and played the pro-am on Wednesday, I feel like this course is so hard. The rough is so long. The fairways are so small. The greens are so firm. So today, I played with no expectations, especially because it was really windy when we started and the first 12 holes are so hard.

“I think when I play without expectations, everything starts to get better.”

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Or maybe, everything gets better when she is back on Canadian soil? And in Calgary, in particular?

“I don’t how to explain this … ” Jutanugarn said. “But I just love to be here.”

WHAT ABOUT THE WEATHER?

Weather was Thursday’s big storyline at the CPKC Women’s Open.

The wind was whipping for the morning wave. Those who teed off in the afternoon were rinsed with rain and then soaked in sunshine, with Kupcho saying it felt like “three different seasons in 18 holes.” They also had steady gusts to contend with.

The benefit of the breeze was that it helped clear some of the smoke from the devastating wildfires in Jasper and elsewhere.

Tournament officials monitored the air quality index throughout the opening round, ensuring it remained at a safe level for players, caddies, volunteers and fans. (When it had worsened on Wednesday evening, they pulled the remaining pro-am groups and maintenance staff off the course.)

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Before starting her warm-up, Kupcho was admittedly steamed that the action hadn’t been postponed.

“I personally didn’t think we should have been playing,” Kupcho said later. “It was pretty bad. I mean, at my hotel, there was ash in the air. It’s messing with our eyes. It didn’t seem like we should have been playing. I was texting my with caddie and we were trying to stay positive about it. Obviously, we knew the wind was going to start blowing and hopefully blow it out. And it did.”

CHIP SHOTS: Only 21 of 156 players finished in red numbers in the opening round. The scoring average was 74.48 … Green, already a two-time winner this season on the LPGA Tour, wasn’t expecting to find herself in second place on a day when she struggled to find the short grass. “I’m just super happy to be under par,” Green said. “I only hit four fairways today, and one of them was with a five-iron, so it wasn’t half how I planned out the round. But I made a lot of really good putts today — a lot of really clutch par putts, a lot of very long putts” … It was a fairytale start for Canada’s Katie Cranston. The 20-year-old from Oakville, Ont., notched an eagle on the first hole, a Par-5 assignment that measures 550 yards. Cranston, one of 11 amateurs in the field this week, drilled a drive and then thumped a four-iron to within about three feet of the flag. “Almost too good to be true,” Cranston said afterward.

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