Canadian 15-year-old Deng tied for second at CPKC Women's Open
The first round of the CPKC Women's Open has concluded and there's a surprising name among the leaders in Aphrodite Deng.
The 15-year-old Canadian amateur shot a 5-under 66 on Thursday and is tied for second at her national open.
Deng got off to a hot start in the opening round, beginning her day with consecutive birdies to drop down to 2-under early. She would keep things rolling with two more birdies at the par-5 fifth and par-4 seventh, finishing the front nine at a 4-under 31.
The Calgary native was stalled at 4-under for most of the back nine with a long string of pars before dropping a shot at the par-4 15th, her lone bogey of the day, to get back to 3-under.
Deng would then settle down with another par at the 16th, before quickly getting back on track with back-to-back birdies to end her day and vault up the leaderboard into a share of first place.
"It feels really great," Deng told TSN's Bob Weeks on being tied for the clubhouse lead. "[I] was just trying to make as few mistakes as I can and make a bunch of putts"
She finishes her day with 13/14 fairways hit off of the tee, 13/18 greens in regulation and just 26 putts en route to the opening-round 66.
Deng sits second, tied with American Megan Khang, Mexico's Gaby Lopez, Jeeno Thitikul from Thailand and Ireland's Leona Maguire.
In July, Deng became the first Canadian to win the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship which helped earn her an exemption into the CPKC Women's Open.
Brooke Henderson, of Smiths Falls, Ont. posted an even-71 round after four birdies and four bogeys.
Track Deng's first round from Mississagua Golf and Country Club with a hole-by-hole look below.
Leader: Akie Iwai (-7)
Aphrodite Deng's First Round Scorecard
Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Par | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
R1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
Status | -1 | -2 | -2 | -2 | -3 | -3 | -4 | -4 | -4 | -4 | -4 | -4 | -4 | -4 | -3 | -3 | -4 | -5 |