Szokol, Ilhee Lee shoot 62s to share LPGA lead
Elizabeth Szokol birdied the first five holes and shot an eight-under 62 for a share of the first-round lead with Ilhee Lee in the LPGA Classic.
Playing on Friday afternoon at Seaview's Bay Course, Szokol followed her opening birdie run with a bogey on No.6, then added birdies on Nos. 8, 9, 13 and 16.
"Happy to get off to a great start and really looking forward to the weekend," Szokol said. "Lots of golf left. Really excited to see good golf and hard work paying off today."
The 30-year-old American teamed with Cheyenne Knight to win the 2023 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational for her only tour victory.
Top-ranked Nelly Korda opened with a 71, and No.2 Jeeno Thitikul had a 68. Maja Stark, the US Women's Open winner Sunday at Erin Hills, shot 70.
Lee birdied three straight holes three times - on Nos.3-5, 8-10 and 16-18 - and had one bogey in her morning round.
The 36-year-old South Korean won the 2013 Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic for her lone tour title.
"I don't have expectation," Lee said. "I just play golf. I just come out, have fun. That's all I do."
Japan's Akie Iwai was third after a 65 in one of only two 54-hole tournaments left on the LPGA Tour schedule. The other is the Walmart NW Arkansas Open.
"Normally four days, so I feel fast, shorter tournament," Iwai said. "That's why we must make a lot birdies."
Wei-Ling Hsu was at 66 with Aline Krauter, Ayaka Furue, Polly Mack, Saki Baba, Dewi Weber and Gurleen Kaur.
Robyn Choi is the leading Australian after shooting a three-under 68.
In a tie for 20th, Choi had six birdies but spoilt her card with a double bogey on the second that was followed by a bogey on the par-five third - her 11th and 12th holes.
One shot further behind in a tie for 34th is Karis Davidson, who had four birdies and two bogeys.
Defending champion Linnea Strom shot 72.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
West Australian
10 hours ago
- West Australian
Best buds: how Opetaia and Crawford hit it off
The two-way respect earned in an evening with Terence 'Bud' Crawford could pay off in the form of a Las Vegas stadium unification blockbuster for Jai Opetaia. Australian cruiserweight Opetaia (27-0) defends his IBF and The Ring belts on the Gold Coast on Sunday against Italian knockout artist Claudio Squeo (17-0). If successful he'll then accelerate his push for more belts, a quest dating back almost three years since his upset win against Mairis Briedis despite breaking his jaw in two places. Gilberto 'Zurdo' Ramirez will defend his WBA and WBO belts later this month and is Opetaia's target, potentially on the undercard to Crawford's super-fight against Canelo Alvarez at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on September 25. Crawford, who took Jeff Horn's welterweight title in 2018, will aim to become a five-weight world champion and the first undisputed three-weight champion. Opetaia has never fought in the United States but has earnt a reputation in the UK and has Saudi billionaire and boxing supremo Turki Alalshikh in his corner after a series of pulverising knockout wins in both countries. Manager Mick Francis plans to head to the United States after Sunday's fight to pursue a deal, buoyed after a meeting with future Hall of Famer Crawford on the Gold Coast last week. "After dealing with him, he's a real one of the sport and he realised I was too," Opetaia told AAP of his time with Crawford on the American's promotional tour. "He knows who I am, for the right reasons." Crawford, among the world's top pound-for-pound talents, defied the poverty, crime and violence associated with his Omaha upbringing and now operates a not-for-profit gym there. NSW-born Opetaia has enjoyed recent visits to conduct junior clinics in Samoa, a heritage he celebrates heavily on fight nights. "There's a lot of similarities in how he thinks, it was refreshing to hear his take," Opetaia said. "I've looked up to him, now we're both up there, rubbing shoulders on the same stage. "I'm telling you. Canelo-Crawford, with me and Zurdo on the undercard ... 100 per cent. "We can't get comfortable, though." That's because a shock loss to the unfancied but dangerous Squeo would up-end all those plans. But Opetaia, who qualified for the Olympics as a 16-year-old and fought at the London 2012 Games at 17, has never got ahead of himself. A fourth generation boxer on his dad's side and third generation on his mum's, Opetaia can't remember a time he wasn't near a ring. "It wasn't a specific moment; I grew up in it, it was life," he said. "Training, boxing, sparring and punching on. "When I was a little boy I'd go for runs before school then the gym straight after. "There was no homework for me. My homework was training. "That's what's pushing me for the unification fights so much. "I'm always pushing up, my whole life just wanting to win, win." The Convention Centre card also features Brisbane-based Irish light heavyweight world title prospect Conor Wallace, rejuvenated super welterweight Ben Mahoney, and entertaining Paris Olympic heavyweight Teremoana Teremoana.
Perth Now
10 hours ago
- Perth Now
Best buds: how Opetaia and Crawford hit it off
The two-way respect earned in an evening with Terence 'Bud' Crawford could pay off in the form of a Las Vegas stadium unification blockbuster for Jai Opetaia. Australian cruiserweight Opetaia (27-0) defends his IBF and The Ring belts on the Gold Coast on Sunday against Italian knockout artist Claudio Squeo (17-0). If successful he'll then accelerate his push for more belts, a quest dating back almost three years since his upset win against Mairis Briedis despite breaking his jaw in two places. Gilberto 'Zurdo' Ramirez will defend his WBA and WBO belts later this month and is Opetaia's target, potentially on the undercard to Crawford's super-fight against Canelo Alvarez at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on September 25. Crawford, who took Jeff Horn's welterweight title in 2018, will aim to become a five-weight world champion and the first undisputed three-weight champion. Opetaia has never fought in the United States but has earnt a reputation in the UK and has Saudi billionaire and boxing supremo Turki Alalshikh in his corner after a series of pulverising knockout wins in both countries. Manager Mick Francis plans to head to the United States after Sunday's fight to pursue a deal, buoyed after a meeting with future Hall of Famer Crawford on the Gold Coast last week. "After dealing with him, he's a real one of the sport and he realised I was too," Opetaia told AAP of his time with Crawford on the American's promotional tour. "He knows who I am, for the right reasons." Crawford, among the world's top pound-for-pound talents, defied the poverty, crime and violence associated with his Omaha upbringing and now operates a not-for-profit gym there. NSW-born Opetaia has enjoyed recent visits to conduct junior clinics in Samoa, a heritage he celebrates heavily on fight nights. "There's a lot of similarities in how he thinks, it was refreshing to hear his take," Opetaia said. "I've looked up to him, now we're both up there, rubbing shoulders on the same stage. "I'm telling you. Canelo-Crawford, with me and Zurdo on the undercard ... 100 per cent. "We can't get comfortable, though." That's because a shock loss to the unfancied but dangerous Squeo would up-end all those plans. But Opetaia, who qualified for the Olympics as a 16-year-old and fought at the London 2012 Games at 17, has never got ahead of himself. A fourth generation boxer on his dad's side and third generation on his mum's, Opetaia can't remember a time he wasn't near a ring. "It wasn't a specific moment; I grew up in it, it was life," he said. "Training, boxing, sparring and punching on. "When I was a little boy I'd go for runs before school then the gym straight after. "There was no homework for me. My homework was training. "That's what's pushing me for the unification fights so much. "I'm always pushing up, my whole life just wanting to win, win." The Convention Centre card also features Brisbane-based Irish light heavyweight world title prospect Conor Wallace, rejuvenated super welterweight Ben Mahoney, and entertaining Paris Olympic heavyweight Teremoana Teremoana.
The Advertiser
10 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Aussie Adcock leaps to gold in Diamond League meet
Australian long jumper Liam Adcock has carved up the 'big boys' by breaking through in emphatic style for his maiden Diamond League gold medal. Still hurting from his runner-up finish at the April meet in Xiamen where the Queenslander led into the final round before being pipped, Adcock did the same to his world-class rivals in Rome on Friday. Lying third after five rounds, Adcock leapt 8.34m (-0.2) to grab first by 21cms from world leader Mattia Furlani (Italy) and two-time Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou (Greece). "That happened to me in Xiamen, I was leading the whole way and then in the last round got overtaken, so I was like it's my turn to clutch up now," the World Indoor medallist said. "I reckon I have a bit of clutch factor so it was great to be able to express that and jump a PB. "I wasn't feeling that great leading into it, but Furlani got the crowd fired up, obviously a home crowd for him, and it got me going too." It was the joint furthest jump outdoors this year, with the 28-year-old now revelling in the company of the 'big boys' and enjoying a breakthrough season after overcoming a series of injuries. "I'm old now which is tough, it's making it difficult to get any interest from sponsors, but I just keep showing up and doing what I can," he added. "I had a lot of years of injuries and this is my first year on the big boy circuit." It was a great night for Australia with Adcock joined on the podium by Sarah Billings and Abbey Caldwell. The middle-distance duo both registered career-best times in the 1500m, with Billings taking second in 3:59.24 followed by Caldwell in third (3:59.32). The race came to life with a bunched field at the bell and Billings coming with her strong run on the turn, but the Victorian was run down by Sarah Healy. "I wanted to be in striking distance in the last lap tonight. I felt really good with 200m to go and just told myself to go for it," Billings said. National record-holder Oliver Hoare aso qualified for the 2025 world championships, clocking 3:31.15 in the 1500m to finish ninth. The Commonwealth champion bided his time at the back of the field in the patiently-run race, mustering a finishing burst to move up the rankings and finish well under the 3:33.00 qualifying standard. Meanwhile, Kenyan Beatrice Chebet came close to breaking the women's 5000m world record when she clocked 14:03.69, a meeting record that was just 2.5 seconds shy of Gudaf Tsegay's 1997 world mark of 14:00.21. Chebet also recorded the second-fastest ever time in the women's 3000m - running 8:11.56 in Rabat last month behind Wang Junxia's 8:06.11 set in 1993. Jamaica's Andrenette Knight dominated the women's 400m hurdles, finishing in 53.67 seconds, while American Anavia Battle won the women's 200m in 22.53 seconds. The men's 110m hurdles produced the evening's closest finish, with Swiss athlete Jason Joseph clocking 13.14 and snatching victory from American Cordell Tinch, who finished in the same time. There was also a nail-bitting race in the men's 400m, with American Quincy Hall finishing in 44.22 secs, just a hundredth of a second ahead of South African Zakithi Nene. In the men's 1500m, France's Azeddine Habz surged in the closing stages to beat former world champion Kenya's Timothy Cheruiyot. Habz won by three-hundredths of a second with a time of 3:29.72, while Cheruiyot finished in 3:29.75. American Trayvon Bromell claimed victory in the 100m, finishing in 9.84 seconds, while Tokyo Olympics high jump gold medallist Gianmarco Tamberi failed to reach the podium as South Korea's Woo Sanghyeok took the win with a jump of 2.32m. with Reuters Australian long jumper Liam Adcock has carved up the 'big boys' by breaking through in emphatic style for his maiden Diamond League gold medal. Still hurting from his runner-up finish at the April meet in Xiamen where the Queenslander led into the final round before being pipped, Adcock did the same to his world-class rivals in Rome on Friday. Lying third after five rounds, Adcock leapt 8.34m (-0.2) to grab first by 21cms from world leader Mattia Furlani (Italy) and two-time Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou (Greece). "That happened to me in Xiamen, I was leading the whole way and then in the last round got overtaken, so I was like it's my turn to clutch up now," the World Indoor medallist said. "I reckon I have a bit of clutch factor so it was great to be able to express that and jump a PB. "I wasn't feeling that great leading into it, but Furlani got the crowd fired up, obviously a home crowd for him, and it got me going too." It was the joint furthest jump outdoors this year, with the 28-year-old now revelling in the company of the 'big boys' and enjoying a breakthrough season after overcoming a series of injuries. "I'm old now which is tough, it's making it difficult to get any interest from sponsors, but I just keep showing up and doing what I can," he added. "I had a lot of years of injuries and this is my first year on the big boy circuit." It was a great night for Australia with Adcock joined on the podium by Sarah Billings and Abbey Caldwell. The middle-distance duo both registered career-best times in the 1500m, with Billings taking second in 3:59.24 followed by Caldwell in third (3:59.32). The race came to life with a bunched field at the bell and Billings coming with her strong run on the turn, but the Victorian was run down by Sarah Healy. "I wanted to be in striking distance in the last lap tonight. I felt really good with 200m to go and just told myself to go for it," Billings said. National record-holder Oliver Hoare aso qualified for the 2025 world championships, clocking 3:31.15 in the 1500m to finish ninth. The Commonwealth champion bided his time at the back of the field in the patiently-run race, mustering a finishing burst to move up the rankings and finish well under the 3:33.00 qualifying standard. Meanwhile, Kenyan Beatrice Chebet came close to breaking the women's 5000m world record when she clocked 14:03.69, a meeting record that was just 2.5 seconds shy of Gudaf Tsegay's 1997 world mark of 14:00.21. Chebet also recorded the second-fastest ever time in the women's 3000m - running 8:11.56 in Rabat last month behind Wang Junxia's 8:06.11 set in 1993. Jamaica's Andrenette Knight dominated the women's 400m hurdles, finishing in 53.67 seconds, while American Anavia Battle won the women's 200m in 22.53 seconds. The men's 110m hurdles produced the evening's closest finish, with Swiss athlete Jason Joseph clocking 13.14 and snatching victory from American Cordell Tinch, who finished in the same time. There was also a nail-bitting race in the men's 400m, with American Quincy Hall finishing in 44.22 secs, just a hundredth of a second ahead of South African Zakithi Nene. In the men's 1500m, France's Azeddine Habz surged in the closing stages to beat former world champion Kenya's Timothy Cheruiyot. Habz won by three-hundredths of a second with a time of 3:29.72, while Cheruiyot finished in 3:29.75. American Trayvon Bromell claimed victory in the 100m, finishing in 9.84 seconds, while Tokyo Olympics high jump gold medallist Gianmarco Tamberi failed to reach the podium as South Korea's Woo Sanghyeok took the win with a jump of 2.32m. with Reuters Australian long jumper Liam Adcock has carved up the 'big boys' by breaking through in emphatic style for his maiden Diamond League gold medal. Still hurting from his runner-up finish at the April meet in Xiamen where the Queenslander led into the final round before being pipped, Adcock did the same to his world-class rivals in Rome on Friday. Lying third after five rounds, Adcock leapt 8.34m (-0.2) to grab first by 21cms from world leader Mattia Furlani (Italy) and two-time Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou (Greece). "That happened to me in Xiamen, I was leading the whole way and then in the last round got overtaken, so I was like it's my turn to clutch up now," the World Indoor medallist said. "I reckon I have a bit of clutch factor so it was great to be able to express that and jump a PB. "I wasn't feeling that great leading into it, but Furlani got the crowd fired up, obviously a home crowd for him, and it got me going too." It was the joint furthest jump outdoors this year, with the 28-year-old now revelling in the company of the 'big boys' and enjoying a breakthrough season after overcoming a series of injuries. "I'm old now which is tough, it's making it difficult to get any interest from sponsors, but I just keep showing up and doing what I can," he added. "I had a lot of years of injuries and this is my first year on the big boy circuit." It was a great night for Australia with Adcock joined on the podium by Sarah Billings and Abbey Caldwell. The middle-distance duo both registered career-best times in the 1500m, with Billings taking second in 3:59.24 followed by Caldwell in third (3:59.32). The race came to life with a bunched field at the bell and Billings coming with her strong run on the turn, but the Victorian was run down by Sarah Healy. "I wanted to be in striking distance in the last lap tonight. I felt really good with 200m to go and just told myself to go for it," Billings said. National record-holder Oliver Hoare aso qualified for the 2025 world championships, clocking 3:31.15 in the 1500m to finish ninth. The Commonwealth champion bided his time at the back of the field in the patiently-run race, mustering a finishing burst to move up the rankings and finish well under the 3:33.00 qualifying standard. Meanwhile, Kenyan Beatrice Chebet came close to breaking the women's 5000m world record when she clocked 14:03.69, a meeting record that was just 2.5 seconds shy of Gudaf Tsegay's 1997 world mark of 14:00.21. Chebet also recorded the second-fastest ever time in the women's 3000m - running 8:11.56 in Rabat last month behind Wang Junxia's 8:06.11 set in 1993. Jamaica's Andrenette Knight dominated the women's 400m hurdles, finishing in 53.67 seconds, while American Anavia Battle won the women's 200m in 22.53 seconds. The men's 110m hurdles produced the evening's closest finish, with Swiss athlete Jason Joseph clocking 13.14 and snatching victory from American Cordell Tinch, who finished in the same time. There was also a nail-bitting race in the men's 400m, with American Quincy Hall finishing in 44.22 secs, just a hundredth of a second ahead of South African Zakithi Nene. In the men's 1500m, France's Azeddine Habz surged in the closing stages to beat former world champion Kenya's Timothy Cheruiyot. Habz won by three-hundredths of a second with a time of 3:29.72, while Cheruiyot finished in 3:29.75. American Trayvon Bromell claimed victory in the 100m, finishing in 9.84 seconds, while Tokyo Olympics high jump gold medallist Gianmarco Tamberi failed to reach the podium as South Korea's Woo Sanghyeok took the win with a jump of 2.32m. with Reuters Australian long jumper Liam Adcock has carved up the 'big boys' by breaking through in emphatic style for his maiden Diamond League gold medal. Still hurting from his runner-up finish at the April meet in Xiamen where the Queenslander led into the final round before being pipped, Adcock did the same to his world-class rivals in Rome on Friday. Lying third after five rounds, Adcock leapt 8.34m (-0.2) to grab first by 21cms from world leader Mattia Furlani (Italy) and two-time Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou (Greece). "That happened to me in Xiamen, I was leading the whole way and then in the last round got overtaken, so I was like it's my turn to clutch up now," the World Indoor medallist said. "I reckon I have a bit of clutch factor so it was great to be able to express that and jump a PB. "I wasn't feeling that great leading into it, but Furlani got the crowd fired up, obviously a home crowd for him, and it got me going too." It was the joint furthest jump outdoors this year, with the 28-year-old now revelling in the company of the 'big boys' and enjoying a breakthrough season after overcoming a series of injuries. "I'm old now which is tough, it's making it difficult to get any interest from sponsors, but I just keep showing up and doing what I can," he added. "I had a lot of years of injuries and this is my first year on the big boy circuit." It was a great night for Australia with Adcock joined on the podium by Sarah Billings and Abbey Caldwell. The middle-distance duo both registered career-best times in the 1500m, with Billings taking second in 3:59.24 followed by Caldwell in third (3:59.32). The race came to life with a bunched field at the bell and Billings coming with her strong run on the turn, but the Victorian was run down by Sarah Healy. "I wanted to be in striking distance in the last lap tonight. I felt really good with 200m to go and just told myself to go for it," Billings said. National record-holder Oliver Hoare aso qualified for the 2025 world championships, clocking 3:31.15 in the 1500m to finish ninth. The Commonwealth champion bided his time at the back of the field in the patiently-run race, mustering a finishing burst to move up the rankings and finish well under the 3:33.00 qualifying standard. Meanwhile, Kenyan Beatrice Chebet came close to breaking the women's 5000m world record when she clocked 14:03.69, a meeting record that was just 2.5 seconds shy of Gudaf Tsegay's 1997 world mark of 14:00.21. Chebet also recorded the second-fastest ever time in the women's 3000m - running 8:11.56 in Rabat last month behind Wang Junxia's 8:06.11 set in 1993. Jamaica's Andrenette Knight dominated the women's 400m hurdles, finishing in 53.67 seconds, while American Anavia Battle won the women's 200m in 22.53 seconds. The men's 110m hurdles produced the evening's closest finish, with Swiss athlete Jason Joseph clocking 13.14 and snatching victory from American Cordell Tinch, who finished in the same time. There was also a nail-bitting race in the men's 400m, with American Quincy Hall finishing in 44.22 secs, just a hundredth of a second ahead of South African Zakithi Nene. In the men's 1500m, France's Azeddine Habz surged in the closing stages to beat former world champion Kenya's Timothy Cheruiyot. Habz won by three-hundredths of a second with a time of 3:29.72, while Cheruiyot finished in 3:29.75. American Trayvon Bromell claimed victory in the 100m, finishing in 9.84 seconds, while Tokyo Olympics high jump gold medallist Gianmarco Tamberi failed to reach the podium as South Korea's Woo Sanghyeok took the win with a jump of 2.32m. with Reuters
