Tokyo Olympics: Hong Kong’s Tiffany Chan toils during tough opening round, Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom sets early pace
- Chan sits 59th out of 60 after disappointing round one
- Opening six-over-par 77 leaves her 11 shots off the early pace
Chan’s round was good enough only for a share of 58th place in the field of 60.
Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom topped the leader board after day one following a flawless round of five-under par 66 that put her a shot clear of USA’s Nelly Korda and India’s Aditi Ashok.
Philippines’ Bianca Pagdanganan is in a tie for seventh spot on two-under par alongside the Taiwanese duo of Hsu Wei-ling and Lee Min.
China’s Lin Xiyu made level par while her teammate Feng Shanshan, the bronze medallist in Rio five years ago, struggled to three-over par.
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Philippines’ US Open-winning 20-year-old Yuka Saso also laboured on day one, signing for a three-over par 74.
There will be no cut this week, so Chan can play without fear on Thursday, or else she would surely have been in danger of not playing into the latter rounds of the competition.
A card that included four bogeys and a double-bogey will not make happy reading for the 27-year-old when she reflects on her opening round played in sweltering conditions in the verdant Kawagoe City.
Chan spoke about the pressure she felt ahead of the first tee on Wednesday.
“I had a little pressure at the beginning, you know, it’s still Olympics,” Chan said. “Still a little different atmosphere than on the Tour.
“I always feel a little pressure on the first tee, I think that’s normal for every golfer. But I think I handled it pretty well and then made a couple mistakes and just couldn’t recover fast enough. I think the last couple holes I parred them all in. But I can definitely do a lot better the next three days.”
Chan said she was hoping to make a breakthrough and challenge for a medal this week, but at a minimum, she will have hoped to improve on her showing five years ago in Rio, where she finished 37th. She signed for an even-par opening round in Rio.
“I just keep telling myself I wasted all my chances or I gave up all my chances today and only ended up making a bogey. And I got three more days and it’s just golf. Every day is a new day,” Chan said.
“I’m still feeling very positive and at the beginning of the week I told everyone that I’m very grateful to be here and I’m not going to give up right now, I still got three more days and I just am going to try my best.”
Chan, the current world No 251, enjoyed a relatively successful junior year on the LPGA Tour, registering a first top-10 finish at the LA Open in April. However, since that eight-place finish, she has failed to make a single cut on the Tour.
