Gemma Dryburgh of Scotland and Cassie Porter of Australia teamed up to shoot a 4-under-par 66 on Thursday, enough for a one-shot lead at the Dow Championship in Midland, Mich.
The LPGA’s only team event of the year pits 72 twosomes in foursomes (alternate shot) on Thursday and Saturday, and four-ball (best ball) on Friday and Sunday. Six teams are a stroke behind Dryburgh and Porter at 3-under 67.
Though the 22-year-old Porter is the less accomplished player on her team, she made some crucial shots in her first round. She drove the green at the par-4 12th, and two holes later, Porter chipped in for birdie.
“We obviously have different games,” Dryburgh said. “Cassie hits it further than me, and I’m nice and down the middle usually. Like Cassie kind of said, we kind of picked the right holes for each other, and I think we gelled really well. We complemented each other really nicely.”
Porter, a rookie, is looking for her first win on the LPGA Tour. She said she asked ChatGPT for suggestions for a nickname for their team — and it came up with “the Kilted Koalas.”
“I’m really sorry, I wish I could tell you that I came up with it myself, but I didn’t,” Porter said.
The six-way tie for second includes Jodi Ewart Shadoff of England and Heather Lin of Taiwan; Saki Baba and Yuri Yoshida, both of Japan; Yan Liu and Yahui Zhang, both of China; South Koreans Jin Hee Im and Somi Lee; Jennifer Kupcho and Ireland’s Leona Maguire; and Megan Khang and Lexi Thompson.
Kupcho and Maguire got past an early bogey and put four birdies on their card.
“Foursomes, it’s always a game of patience,” Maguire said. “Nice to hole quite a long (putt) on 16. Had a nice one on 3 to bounce back after the bogey on 2 to kind of get the round going.”
Thompson is competing alongside Khang fresh off her competitive week at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, where she was a contender before finishing tied for 12th.
“Course is in great shape,” Thompson said. “I knew coming out here for alternate shot that we just had to make a few birdies and pars were good. Just tried to stay consistent and be patient out there.”
Another contender at last week’s major, World No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand, is the defending champion alongside teammate Ruoning Yin of China. They opened with a 2-under 68, tied with six other teams at that score.
–Field Level Media
