Aussie teenagers well placed early

Grace Kim is warming up today on a beautiful morning at SentryWorld. Photo: USGA

Australians Maddison Hinson-Tolchard and Grace Kim are well placed after day one of the American girl amateur in Wisconsin.

Hinson-Tolchard of Perth was one of the first leaders with two back-nine birdies who started on the 10th tee on the SentryWorld course.

And although she had cooled down with three front-nine bogeys, she made a quality bird in her last hole, the ninth, to get an even-par 72 and share 20th place after the first of two days of a stroke.

Kim, from Sydney, also started the 10th tee sharply before her lap made a markedly unusual whimsical turn.

The Youth Olympic champion, known for her regular game, made a double bogey on the 15th and a bogeys on the 18th and then third holes to tumble onto the scoreboard.

Remarkably, however, Kim skipped back with an eagle in the par-five fifth to return to even par before a bogey left her in a share of the 28th to one.

The top 64 players after tomorrow's second round will advance to Wednesday's knockout game.

On an otherwise compact leaderboard, one player is almost certainly ahead, the impressive Yuka Saso from the Philippines.

The 18-year-old, remarkable in her fourth American Girls ’Amateur, fired a spectacular bogey-free 65 to get three free from the field to seven under.

SCOREBOARD