Lee-Anne Pace of Paarl. South Africa is the leader after the first round of the 2023 Women’s PGA Championship in Springfield, New Jersey. At the Baltusrol Golf Club, Pace is at -5 and is trying to become the third South African all-time to win a major in women’s golf. The other two female golfers to win a major are Sally Little of Cape Town, who won the 1980 Women’s PGA Championship (was an American citizen when she won the 1988 du Maurier Classic), and Ashleigh Buhai of Johannesburg, who won the 2022 Women’s British Open.
Pace was most famous for becoming the first female golfer to withdraw from the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro because of her concerns with the Zika Virus. On Thursday, she had five birdies and zero bogeys. Pace birdied the eighth, 11th, 12th, 15th, and 18th holes.
Three players are tied for second at -4. There you can find Canada’s Brooke Henderson, China’s Xiyu Lin and China’s Ruoning Yin. One player is all alone in fifth place at -3. Two strokes back of Pace is Thailand’s Wichanee Meechai. Then six players are tied for sixth at -2. Those players three strokes back of Pace are Norway’s Celine Borge, Ireland’s Leona Maguire, Japan’s Ayaka Furue and Yuka Saso, South Korea’s Jenny Shin, and Germany’s Esther Henseleit.
Of those in contention are two major champions. Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ontario won the 2016 Women’s PGA Championship, and the 2022 Evian Championship. Saso meanwhile won the 2021 United States Women’s Open. At the time, she was competing for the Philippines. Now Saso is competing for Japan.
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