Megha Ganne, a 17-year-old American amateur of Indian descent, shocked the big names in women’s golf by taking the lead in the first round of the US Women’s Open here.
The high school student is the first amateur in 15 years to do so since Jane Park achieved the feat at Newport Country Club in 2006, two years after Ganne was born.
She was alone in the lead with less than 5 before releasing a shot in the 18th to find herself in the lead. Ganne shared the lead with England professional Mel Reid on the Olympic club’s lake course where the women play a major for the first time.
One shot behind the leaders were Angel Yin, Megan Khang and Brooke Henderson, former KPMG Women’s PGA Champion. Major champions Lexi Thompson, Shanshan Feng and Yuka Saso sat two shots behind.
Ten other players were tied, including 2018 champion Ariya Jutanugarn and Lydia Ko, as only 15 players managed to pull under par on the Par-71 course.
New Jersey daughter Ganne had entered her second US Open the hard way, winning a three-way play-off to earn a berth last month. She had previously played at the US Open in 2019 and missed the cup. She hopes to go to Stanford for college after finishing high school.
Ganne, whose parents Sudha and Hari are first generation migrants, supported her interest in golf and she also revealed that she had some great conversations with Brooks Koepka, who won the US Open for men two-handed. times.
Ganne’s resume includes starts at the 2017 US Women’s Amateur, the 2018 US Women’s Four-Ball Championship, and the 2019 US Women’s Open in Charleston. She is also a four-time finalist in the Drive, Chip and Putt National Championship at Augusta National.
While Ganne was clearly having her best day at the US Open, co-leader Mel Reid had her best lap in a Major, having missed the cut in four of her last five US Open.
The field of 156 will be reduced to 60 after the second round.
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