CN Canadian Women's Open Thursday: Lydia Ko, Angela Stanford, Christel Boeljon Lead at -5; Stacy Lewis Withdraws

Lydia Ko, the defending champion of the CN Canadian Women's Open, has been having a pretty darn great season, but she's been overshadowed by fellow teenagers Ariya Jutanugarn (until she injured her shoulder at the Wegmans LPGA Championship, requiring surgery) and Charley Hull (the darling of the Solheim Cup who's been granted permission to apply early for LPGA membership).  Well, after going -6 over her 1st 14 holes and tying Angela Stanford and Christel Boeljon at -5, Ko has put herself back in the spotlight (although their scorecards are also worth looking at, both bogey-free, but in quite different ways!).  And although the three co-leaders have a star-studded lead chase pack, they won't have to worry about world #2 Stacy Lewis, who withdrew due to illness after opening with 5 bogeys in her 1st 7 holes and closing with a +4 74.  Among those in the hunt are:

• Paula Creamer and Cristie Kerr at 66,
• Inbee Park, Na Yeon Choi, Karine Icher, and Jennifer Kirby at 67,
• Laura Davies, Hee Young Park, Shanshan Feng, Caroline Hedwall, and Brittany Lincicome at 68,
• Suzanne Pettersen, Amy Yang, Momoko Ueda, Chella Choi, Pornanong Phatlum, Carlota Ciganda, and Charley Hull at 69,
• and Ai Miyazato, Mika Miyazato, Anna Nordqvist, Brittany Lang, Jessica Korda, Catriona Matthew, Beatriz Recari, Morgan Pressel, Eun-Hee Ji, Gerina Piller, Caroline Masson, Sun Young Yoo, Laura Diaz, and Karen Stupples at 70.

Other big names than Lewis struggled, including

• In-Kyung Kim, Lexi Thompson, Azahara Munoz, and Jodi Ewart Shadoff at +1,
• Se Ri Pak, Ya Ni Tseng, Haeji Kang, Hee-Won Han, Jeong Jang, Sandra Gal, Moriya Jutanugarn, and Brooke Henderson at +2,
• Karrie Webb, So Yeon Ryu, Michelle Wie, Natalie Gulbis, and Song-Hee Kim at +3,
• and Ji-Yai Shin and Chie Arimura at +4,

It'll be interesting to see if fatigue catches up with other Solheim Cuppers or those like Feng and Shin who played on the JLPGA in recent weeks, if those coming off a layoff can scrape off rust fairly quickly, and if Ko can keep the spotlight pointed her way!

[Update 1 (8/23/13, 12:15 am):  It's worth noting that Inbee Park only hit 5 fairways, that So Yeon Ryu went triple-double on the back, and that Ai Miyazato started with 3 bogeys in her 1st 4 holes.  Amazing they scored as well as they did!]

[Update 2 (8/24/13, 12:12 am):  Here's bangkokbobby's 1st-round overview, with loads of photos and videos!]