CANADIAN PACIFIC WOMEN'S OPEN

SO YEON RYU SETS PACE WITH 

NINE-UNDER 63

 FROM THE LPGA TOUR WEBSITE
So Yeon Ryu and Na Yeon Choi – both top-20 in the Rolex World Rankings - went to a South Korean dinner Wednesday night at a local restaurant with recent major champion Inbee Park to celebrate her win at the Wegmans LPGA Championship. 
It’s become a tradition where whoever wins picks up the tab the next week.
Based off Thursday’s first round of the Candian Pacific Women's Open at London Hunt and Country Club, Ontario, Park’s going to get a meal in return soon as So Yeon Ryu set the course record with an afternoon nine-under-par 63 after watching her friend Choi return an 8-under-par 64 in the morning wave.
Ryu’s nine-birdie, zero bogey 63 in which she hit every fairway and 16 of 18 greens, needing the flat stick only 25 times wasn’t her career-best.
“I shot 11-under when I was playing in the 2012 Australian Masters, but I couldn’t win the tournament, but I hope I can win this tournament this time,” Ryu said.
She’s more than due. She’s had 27 top-10 finishes since her last win in mid-2012, including nine this
season. It’s a similar story for Choi, who has had 10 top-10 finishes since her last win at the 2012 CME Group Titleholders to end the 2012 season. 
Great golf undoubtedly, but it hasn’t translated into the winner’s circle and the duo talked about that at International Crown a month ago.
“It was a really great opportunity to make us more honest to each other, then we talked about how hard it is getting through tough times,” Ryu said. “Na Yeon won U.S. Open and CME two years ago, then hasn’t won anything, and I’m kind of in the same situation. 
"So we talk about how we can get through this one, how do we think about this situation. Then Na Yeon and I both were kind of sad, so I realised I’m not the only one going through the hard times.”
For Choi, Thursday was her best round of the season and included three chip-ins on the day. Two came during a stretch where she made five straight birdies on Nos. 1 through 5 – her 10th to 14th holes of the day.
Anna Nordqvist, playing in the same group as Ryu, is on the heels of both after a 7-under 65.
 Their dinner mate Park continued the terrific stretch she’s been on as well with a 6-under 66 on Thursday to finish the day in a tie for 4th with Azahara Munoz, Xi Yu Lin and Danielle Kang heading into Friday.
RETURN OF AN OLD FRIEND
Three weeks ago Danielle Kang brought back the item she wished she never had parted with – the old Taylor Made center shafted Corza putter she used to win the 2010 and 2011 U.S. Women’s Amateur.
“I always said it was the ugliest putter, but I putt the best with it,” Kang said with a laugh. 
“You know when there is a saying, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover,’ I’m going to go with that line. I love him even if he’s ugly. I love and I’m going to keep him. I’ve been putting better and better every week. He’s staying in my bag.”
She showed why on Thursday with a first-round 66 that included only 27 putts and has her just two shots back of the lead heading into round two. 
She had got rid of the putter once before during her amateur career and she played poorly during its absence. Her late father suggested she put it back in the bag and she responded with wins at the North and South Amateur and a low amateur at the Women’s British Open and a win at the 2011 U.S. Amateur.
But for whatever reason, she ditched it again. Putting had been Kang’s issue all season with her 30.62 putting average ranking 101st on Tour, and so she decided to make the switch.
It’s an ironic return to the past for Kang considering she’s changed up everything in her game recently. She hired a new short game coach Gabriel Hjertstedt and has a new swing coach Brian Mogg. Hjertstedt’s focused mostly on getting Kang’s short game back to how she used to play – totally based off of feel. As her game’s not been where she wanted the last two years, she’s gotten more technical and that’s never how she was before. And where he needs her to improve her technique, she does it on the practice area and focuses on feeling it on the course.
“I had just been worrying about too much of the outcome. The thing that my coaches Gabriel and Brian always told me, your mentality is good. It’s sometimes your technique,” she said. “So I’ve been working on releasing the club head and feeling the shots more with my club head than my hands, if that makes sense.”


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