Alison Lee and Jenny Shin each reeled off four straight birdies in the middle of their rounds and joined Gaby Lopez at 7-under 65 Thursday to share a one-stroke lead after the first round of the LPGA Drive on Championship.
Lee, a 28-year-old American looking for her first tour win, birdied four of her first five holes. And, after a bogey at No. 16, her seventh hole, she pieced together a four straight birdies and five in the next six holes to reach 8 under at Superstition Mountain Golf Club before a bogey on her final hole dropped her into a three-way tie for the top spot of a crowded leaderboard.
Shin, a 30-year-old from South Korea looking for her first win since 2016, posted seven birdies from Nos. 8 through 18 to earn a share of the lead in the tour’s first full-field event of the season.
Lopez had a bogey-free round. The 29-year-old Mexican started on the back nine and made the turn at 4-under par before adding three birdies on the front side to tie for the lead.
Taiwan’s Wei-Ling Hsu and England’s Jodi Ewart Shadoff were tied for fourth after opening 66s. Ten players are tied for sixth place at 5 under, as 114 golfers in the 142-player field carded a score of even par or better. Play was suspended with one group left on the course, but none of the players threatening the leaders.
Source : AP News