“I was struggling a bit but working hard, saving some good pars. My putter wasn’t as good but that great eagle (putt) on seven was the key point of the round. It was huge [20m],” Fernandez-Castano said.
“It looked really difficult when I got to the ball and then when I went to the other side of the ball I told my caddie ‘this is not that difficult’ and then I holed it. I couldn’t really believe it. [I’m] very happy. I just need to go back to the range this afternoon and see if I can find something that really gets me going,” the Spaniard said.
Taiwan’s Yeh Wei-tze (葉偉志) was level with Gregory Meyer of the US at 148.
■ ADT CHAMPIONSHIP
AFP, WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA
Australian Katherine Hull fired a four-under par 68 to grab a one-stroke lead after the first round of the LPGA ADT Championship, while Annika Sorenstam struggled in her US farewell.
Hull, who won the Canadian Women’s Open in August and was second in South Korea earlier this month, fired six birdies against a pair of bogeys to seize a one-stroke lead over South Koreans Kim In-kyung Kim and Shin Ji-yai.
Swedish superstar Sorenstam, the former world No. 1 who will retire after this year, opened with a two-over 74 to share 23rd place and was two strokes out of the top-16 showing she will need to avoid Friday’s cut.
“I was a little nervous. I feel like I’m playing good,” Sorenstam said. “I’m excited about the week. It’s just nothing went my way today. It’s just very frustrating that way.”
Also well off the pace was world No. 1 Lorena Ochoa. The Mexican fired a 75 and faces the drop zone rather than the weekend without a fightback.
The season-ending US$1.55 million event at Trump International Golf Club matches the top 31 players from this year’s campaign in a format with cuts to 16 for today and eight for tomorrow’s battle for a US$1 million top prize.
That means Sorenstam, who has three titles and US$1.7 million in prize money this season, will need to rally to avoid missing the weekend in her final LPGA tournament after a career that includes 72 titles and 10 major triumphs.
Taiwan’s Candie Kung (龔怡萍) and Yani Tseng (曾雅妮) carded even-par rounds of 72 to share 10th place with five other players.
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