MACAU LADIES OPEN RELATED STORIES Macau Ladies Open home page Macau Ladies Open Preview Round 1: Kimura goes under par for two shot lead Round 2: Kimura maintains two shot lead Round 3: Tucker becomes first non-Asian winner Final Scores & Prize Money Current LAGT Order of Merit US & Europe out to break LAGT's Asian monopoly Porani tries for back-to-back victories in Macau About the Macau Golf & Country Club Five city Tour for Asian Ladies 2007 Ladies Asian Golf Tour schedule Final 2006 LAGT Order of Merit ASIAN GOLF TODAY TOP STORIES Swedes sweep World Cup win Lin & Marksaeng near top 50 HK: Lin wins in 3-way playoff Asian Tour hits landmark 300 in HK Asian Tour releases 2009 schedule Report predicts 30% China golf growth GOLF TODAY TOP STORIES Sweden win World Cup Internationals claim Lexus Cup Pampling wins in a playoff Choi wins Skins Game Amateur: EGU allow range finders

Kimura goes under par for two shot lead

Japan's Mika Kimura mastered the chilly winds - gusting at 20 mph - to take a two-stroke lead in the first round of the inaugural US$80,000 Macau Ladies Open, presented by CTM at Macau Golf and Country Club today.

The 25-year-old resident from Kobe however, admitted that the wind played a crucial role to help her game. "Luck was on my side as I discovered that the winds aided my shots to the desired area. I was really very lucky," said Mika who shot a 1-under 70 for a two-stroke cushion over countrywoman Kyoko Namikawa who jointly occupies the second spot with Iyoko Wada and Nam Min-ji of Korea.

Mika however credited her putts today as the best part of her game. "I was really holing the putts well and I was enjoying it very much," said Mika who loves to play golf in Macau and mainland China.

She was the only player to card under-par on what was a tough scoring day. The 2006 runner of Macau-LAGT Championship and crowd favourite Porani Chutichai of Thailand was blown 'off' by the strong winds that shattered her confidence and game. The 21-year-old Porani finished with a round of 84, which puts her in joint 60 with two other players.

"It was a nightmare out there. I was not hitting well and did not know how to handle the wind conditions. The sudden change in wind direction made it even worse when the ball was in air," claimed Porani.

USA's Natalie Tucker, who is determined to break the Asian women's dominance at the top of the leaderboard is lying joint-fifth with China's Wei Xiao Rong, Thailand's Rungthiwa Pangjun, Japan's Rie Shiraki, Teresa Lu of Chinese Taipei, and Korea's Kim Eun-hee. The sextuplet shot two-over par 73 for the day.

Leading Round 1 scores (par 71) - click here for full first round scoreboard

70: Mika Kimura (Jpn)

72: Kyoko Namikawa (Jpn), Iyoko Wada (Jpn), Nam Min-ji (Kor),

73: Natalie Tucker (USA) Wei Xiao Rong (Chn) Rungthiwa Pangjun (Tha), Rie Shiraki (Jpn), Teresa Lu (Tpe,) Kim Eun-hee (Kor).

74: Yeo Ji-aye (Kor)

75: Yoko Takai (Jpn), Fame More (Eng), Satarak Wailalak (Tha), Yoshie Yoshida (Jpn).

76: Libby Smith (USA), Hu Ling (Chn), Wang Chun (Chn), Zhang Na (Chn), Anna Yu (HKG), Kelly Cap (USA), Lee Eun-kyoung (Kor), Hiroko Tanabe (Jpn), He Honglin (Chn), Nontaya Srisawang (Tha).

January 24, 2007