Teen Canadian amateur Aphrodite Deng in contention after Round 1 at U.S. Women’s Open

A teenaged Canadian phenom made some noise Thursday during the first round of the U.S. Women’s Open at the Riviera Country Club in the Pacific Palisades, Calif.

Sixteen-year-old Aphrodite Deng shot an opening-round 70 to sit just four strokes back of the lead at the major championship, good for a tie for 15th place.

The Calgary, Alta., native joined fellow amateurs Maria José Marin of Colombia and Spain’s Paula Francisco Liaño at 1-under for the championship after the first round.

American Jennifer Kupcho leads sitting at 5-under after shooting a 66. South Korea’s Kim Sei-young is just behind Kupcho after a first-round 67 and four others are in a tie for third at 3-under each.

Deng started her round on the back nine, playing bogey-less golf and birdying holes 12, 13 and 16 on her way to a first-half 33. She then opened her first nine with a birdie to move to 4-under for the championship where she held steady until disaster struck as she bogeyed No. 4, then double-bogeyed 7 and followed that up with another bogey on 8. Thankfully, she managed to salvage an otherwise stellar round with a birdie on No. 9.

Deng is looking to become the first amateur competitor to win a women’s major gold championship since France’s Catherine Lacoste won the U.S. Women’s Open in 1967.

Deng won the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship last year.

Fellow Canadians Brooke Henderson, Anna Huang and amateur Lauren Kim didn’t fare as well as Deng did Thursday, with Henderson shooting a 73 and Huang and Kim both at 4-over through 16 holes.