Polly Mack, the longest player on the LPGA, leads in Portland with Russian rookie chasing

Polly Mack called it “pretty flawless.” The 25-year-old LPGA sophomore opened the Portland Classic with a career-low 9-under 63 to pace the field early at the longest-running non-major tournament on tour.

Kathy Whitworth won the first Portland Classic in 1972. A dozen past champions of the event are in the LPGA Hall of Fame.

“It feels so good,” said Mack. “Feels like I’ve been working for almost years for this kind of stuff to happen. Just finally to see a result on the scorecard, not just in the game, on the course, but also seeing it written down is really, really nice.

“I’m sure my team behind me is as happy as I am right now.”

Germany’s Mack, who leads the tour in driving distance at 284 yards, has missed 10 of 13 cuts so far this season and currently ranks 419th in the world. With so many top players prepping for next week’s Olympic Games in Paris, it’s a good opportunity to players to make big moves toward securing their cards. Mack came into this week 140th on the CME points list. The top 100 players secure their cards for next year.

“It seemed so easy out there today,” said Mack of round that included seven birdies and an eagle at Columbia Edgewater Country Club.

A trio of players sit one back at 8 under, including Samantha Wagner, a 27-year-old making her first start on the LPGA this season after losing her status last year.

Wagner was in Costco buying some stuff for her mother in Orlando, Florida, when she got the email that she was in the field this week across the country. She and her father, who doubles as her caddie, got on a plane about 12 hours later.

“It’s certainly tough out there,” said Wagner of her time back on the Epson Tour. “Coming back from a year on the LPGA I didn’t really know what to expect, but the field has been tough every week. Play has been really great.

“I mean, cuts have been just as low as LPGA, so it’s definitely a challenge.”

Wagner is currently 49th on the Epson Tour’s Race for the Card. Players who finish in the top 15 earn LPGA membership for next season.

Russian rookie Nataliya Guseva, who recorded her third top 10 of the season last week in Canada, joins Wagner and South Korea’s Hyo Joon Jang in a share of second.

“I was just really enjoying myself on the golf course,” said Guseva. “That was probably one of the best times for me on the LPGA, like on the golf course when I was just really, you know, like going, talking, not even paying attention to my game. I was just like hitting it well and knocking it in, so it’s always nice when you get into that momentum.”

The 21-year-old played collegiate golf at Miami and earned LPGA status with a T-23 finish at LPGA Q-Series last December.

Last week’s winner, Lauren Coughlin, is back in the mix after an opening 66. Coughlin, 31, won for the first time in her 101st LPGA start as a member at the CPKC Women’s Open. Coughlin didn’t make a single bogey on Thursday.

The biggest challenge of the week so far, she said, was coming down from the high of Sunday and finding a way to reset.

“I hit the ball extremely well,” said Coughlin. “Stayed super patient. Finally got some putts to drop on the back nine. Yeah, no, it was a good round especially considering last week. Very happy.”