Becky bursts clear in China

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Becky Brewerton has secured a one-shot lead after Friday’s first round of the Suzhou Taihu Ladies Open in China.

Becky Brewerton has secured a one-shot lead after the first round of the Suzhou Taihu Ladies Open in China.

The 28-year-old Welsh star opened Friday’s first round with a 5-under par 67 at Suzhou Taihu International Golf Club near Shanghai to edge one stroke clear of six other players including world number one Yani Tseng.

Brewerton said part of the reason for her excellent round was a lesson she had learned from 22-year-old Tseng, the youngest player in the history of golf ever to have won five majors.

“I saw a quote that Yani had made yesterday about even now, after everything she has done, she just takes one shot at a time and doesn’t think about the score.

“And that’s what I tried to do today.

“Listening to her quotes and her saying she just tries to do her best on every shot you think, ye, that’s definitely the attitude and today was probably the first time ever that I’ve managed to actually forget my score,” Brewerton continued.

Despite firing six birdies as against just one bogey, Brewerton said that she would not feel safe with Tseng a stroke behind on the leader board.

“You know with Yani in the field, you have to be at your best and hope that she’s not quite at hers,” said Brewerton, a two-time LET champion from Abergele, who now lives in Royal Wootton Basset.

Tseng is looking for her 11th title of the season after winning in her homeland on Sunday.

She had four birdies in her opening round, but three putted for par on the 18th, her 9th, after reaching the green in two strokes.

Tseng said: “I played pretty consistently today. It’s always good to be bogey-free, but I missed two four-foot putts, otherwise it could be better.

“It’s the first day of the tournament: I still have two days to go and I’m very happy with the way I finished today, with a birdie on the last hole and I’m in a good position now.

Tseng is tied for second with the defending champion Lee-Anne Pace of South Africa, Lisa Holm Sorensen and Line Vedel of Denmark, Scotland’s Kylie Walker and Italian Giulia Sergas.

Pace, who won her fifth LET title in a four-way play-off at the venue 12 months ago, was satisfied with five birdies and just one dropped shot at the 10th hole.

Last year’s Henderson Money List winner felt that playing with Tseng had lifted her game:

“If you look at her hitting balls – she strikes it so pure and straight down the fairway every time.”

Sorensen, meanwhile, is playing to secure her Tour card for the 2012 season and she said: “My game has been quite good today. I played pretty much flawless: hit many greens and gave myself a lot of opportunities out there and took the good ones, so all in all, I’m very happy with my game.”

Walker, a second year professional on the LET, carded three birdies in a row from the fourth hole and grabbed another on the par-five 18th.

“I’m happy with four under. It was all really quite steady. I only missed two greens, gave myself a lot of chances and made a few of them. It was really nice, stress free. I was never in trouble,” Walker said.

Thailand’s Patcharajutar Kongkraphan, a 19-year-old from Bangkok, otherwise known as ‘PK’, used her 50 degree wedge to ace the 127-yard par-three 17th hole for her first professional hole-in-one.

TOP 10 LEADERBOARD:
67 – Becky Brewerton (WAL)
68 – Lisa Holm Sorensen (DEN), Yani Tseng (TPE), Lee-Anne Pace (RSA), Kylie Walker (SCO), Line Vedel (DEN), Giulia Sergas (ITA)
69 – Tan Ling Ling (CHN), Veronica Zorzi (ITA), Stacy Lee Bregman (RSA), Caroline Hedwall (SWE)
70 – Jenni Kuosa (FIN), Beth Allen (USA), Anne-Lise Caudal (FRA), Jaclyn Sweeney (USA), Nontaya Srisawang (THA), Vikki Laing (SCO), Karen Lunn (AUS), Tiffany Tavee (USA), Nikki Garrett (AUS), Lu Yue Xia (CHN), Klara Spilkova (CZE)

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