After one round at the U.S. Women’s Open in Los Angeles, Jennifer Kupcho has taken a one stroke lead after a -5 67 on Thursday.
Kupcho couldn’t have gotten off to a better start, with birdies on the first three holes that allowed her to show off a little bit of everything that clicks when her game is working. She used her power on the first hole to get almost on the green in two, she hit an incredible approach into the second hole, then made a putt of about 14 feet on the third.
While Kupcho did make two stumbles on the day, the sixth and 15th, she responded immediately to both of them with birdies on the next hole. In all, Kupcho made seven birdies and two bogeys, taking a one stroke lead into Friday.
There was a bit of a break of routine for Kupcho that may have helped her out in round one. Generally, Kupcho doesn’t visit a course in advance for scouting. During the JM Eagle LA Championship week though, she did come and check out Riviera to prep. That has helped her gain some comfortability on the challenging setup.
“Honestly, I kind of just felt at home. I feel like I really like the golf course. It kind of just flies by. I don’t know, I feel like I just really, really like the golf course,” said Kupcho. “It’s kind of a ball striker’s paradise.”
Despite Kupcho hitting just 12 greens in regulation, she was still first in strokes gained approach for the day at +4.08. That helped her have just 26 putts, tied for the best in the field. She was also top 15 in driving distance and still managed to hit 9/14 fairways.
Kupcho goes off early Friday, which should set up for decent scoring conditions.
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