Kim Song-hee shot a seven-under 65 to take the first-round lead at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational, holding a two-stroke lead over fellow South Korean Shin Ji-yai, Paula Creamer and Mariajo Uribe on Thursday.
Kim had six birdies on the first 10 holes at Guadalajara Country Club and also birdied the last to top the 36-player field. Winless in three seasons on the US LPGA Tour, she’s trying to become the ninth South Korean to win this year.
Shin, a three-time winner this season and the money leader, has won the rookie of the year award and leads top-ranked Lorena Ochoa in the player of the year race.
Ochoa shot a 71, making three birdies and two bogeys on her home course.
Catriona Matthew and Ji Eun-hee opened with 68s; Cristie Kerr, Brittany Lincicome and Brittany Lang had 69s; and Michelle Wie, Katherine Hull and M.J. Hur shot 70s.
Ai Miyazato, second on the money list, had a 71, and defending champion Angela Stanford finished with a 73.
Taiwan’s Yani Tseng was on par with a 72, while compatriot Candie Kung trailed one behind at 73.
Kim has 10 top-10s this season, including a fifth-place finish two weeks ago in South Korea at the Hana Bank Kolon Championship.
With two tournaments left this season, Shin leads Ochoa by four points in the player of the year race. The season ends next week at the LPGA Tour Championship in Houston.
If Shin wins this week she will wrap up the player of the year award if Ochoa fails to finish at least seventh. Nancy Lopez is the only player to win both the rookie and player of the year awards in the same season, accomplishing the feat in 1978.
Ochoa also has won three times this season, but that pales compared to the 21 she won in the previous three seasons. She plans to marry next month and has acknowledged off-course obligations have hurt her tournament results.
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