Phillips posts only under-par score of the day to lead at Kentucky Women’s Open.

ASHLAND, KY (July 11, 2022) – Ke’Asha Phillips of Owensboro holds a two-stroke lead after the first round of the 26^th Kentucky Women’s Open following an opening 68 (-2) at Bellefonte Country Club. The Xavier graduate now pursuing a Masters degree at Akron was bogey-free on the outward nine with a 32 (-3) getting her on top of the leaderboard early in the day. She never wavered from that spot and was the solo leader for a strong majority of the round, and now goes into Tuesday’s final round with a multi-shot advantage.

“My putting was definitely the best thing I had going for me today,” Phillips said. “I had the speed of the greens down for the most part and it seemed like everything was either going in or catching the edge of the hole. Getting to the green, I’ve got two yardages I like to hit into the putting surface with my wedges and I’m trying to hit my tee shots to those yardages. I hit a lot of fairway woods off tee boxes today since (Bellefonte) is a shorter course than a lot of places. I’m going to play the final round with the same strategy and just focus on doing what I need to do out there.”

Hensley, the player next closest to Phillips, posted 70 (E) which has her three shots clear of a trio of players in third place. A local product and member of the Morehead State Eagles women’s golf team, Hensley was consistent throughout the day with fourteen pars alongside a pair of birdies and a pair of bogeys. With many years’ worth of experience playing Bellefonte, Hensley will be equipped with the knowledge necessary to make a charge towards the trophy on Tuesday.

Melissa Yeazell, Athena Singh and Sarah Fite are those rounding out the top-three following rounds of 73 (+3) from each of them. By virtue of being the first of those three to finish on Monday, Yeazell will have the honor of playing in the final group in the final round. She, Phillips and Hensley will tee off the 1^st hole at Bellefonte at 9:30 a.m. EDT on Tuesday.

NOTES & STATS

• The par-four 2^nd was the hardest hole of the day by a considerable margin and was the only hole to yield an average more than one over par. +1.07 was the mark it played to.
• The easiest hole was the par-four 11^th at +0.14. It was the only hole where no double bogeys or worse were recorded.
• The back nine was the easier side for Monday’s round thanks in part to hole 11. It averaged a score of 39.50 (+4.50) compared to 39.95 (+4.95) on the front.
• Those led to a course average of 79.45 (+9.45) to begin the competition.

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Golf House Kentucky will continue to have full coverage of the championship on its Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages. MyTown TV will have live coverage of the second round beginning at 11:00 a.m. EDT on Tuesday. Public attendance to the championship is permitted with spectators welcome free of charge.

About the Kentucky PGA:
The Kentucky PGA Section (KPGA) is one of forty-one Sections across the country representing the PGA of America and its Members. It is also one of three organizations encompassed within Golf House Kentucky, which also includes the Kentucky Golf Association (KGA) and Kentucky Golf Foundation (KGF). The KPGA contains more than 275 Members and more than 30 Associates working in various roles across Kentucky; all of whom share the goal of bettering the game and its players. The KPGA and its Members assist with the organization of many chief growth-of-the-game initiatives including PGA HOPE and PGA Jr. League among others. The Section also operates more than thirty tournaments throughout the golf season, including the three State Open championships and qualifiers for the Barbasol Championship.

Media Contact:
Ethan Fisher, PGA | Golf House Kentucky | efisher@kygolf.org | (502) 792-9703