Taiwan’s Teresa Lu (盧曉晴) and Sweden’s Carin Koch posted first-round five-under 67s on Thursday to share the lead in the US$2.6 million Ginn Open.
Koch, a two-time winner on the US women’s tour, notched seven birdies to counter her only misstep, a double-bogey at 15. The Swede continued her strong play after firing a season-low 66 in the final round for fifth place on Sunday in the Corona Championship.
“The conditions were great today,” Koch said. “It was just a beautiful day, a little cold in the morning, and not much wind. The wind kind of came and went a little bit during the day. A few holes played a little more with the wind or into the wind.”
PHOTO: AP
Lu, who has never finished better than ninth on the LPGA tour, had seven birdies with just two bogeys.
“I feel pretty good the way I played today and everything just went really smooth,” Lu said. “I’m really happy about it.”
World No. 1 Lorena Ochoa, seeking her fourth straight win and fifth in six starts, headed a group of seven players sharing third place at 68.
Ochoa, who was runner-up here last year, had five birdies and her only error was a bogey at the eighth hole.
The Mexican star has won four of five tournaments this year, with her worst effort a tie for eighth.
“I took advantage of a good round in the afternoon, and tomorrow we will hopefully have better conditions in the morning and I can be a little more aggressive and make more birdies,” Ochoa said. “I’m in position, and I’m going to make sure I give myself a good chance to win the tournament on Sunday.”
Lu insisted she did not feel extra pressure with Ochoa lurking.
“Not really today. I just tried to focus on every shot I hit because I just changed a little bit my swing on Monday, so I just really have to focus on my tempo, otherwise my ball is going to go everywhere,” Lu said. “So I didn’t look at the scoreboard and just played the way I play.”
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