France’s Karine Icher fired a five-under-par 67 to seize the lead before high winds halted Thursday’s opening round of the LPGA ANA Inspiration, the year’s first major women’s event.
Icher birdied three of four par-three holes at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California, to stand one stroke ahead of American Michelle Wie, the 2014 runner-up, and South Koreans Ryu So-yeon, Park Sung-hyun and teen amateur Seong Eun-jeong.
The 38-year-old French standout has four wins on the Ladies European Tour, the most recent in 2005, and has never won an LPGA event, despite 43 career top-10 efforts over 14 years; her best in a major being a share of sixth at the 2005 US Women’s Open.
“I’m probably the player with the most top 10s without winning, so I’m used to it,” Icher said.
“I’m going to keep focused and keep my game on and try to sink some putts, and we’ll see from there,” she added.
There were 51 players still on the course when play was halted for severe wind, with the first round scheduled to resume yesterday morning.
Icher birdied the par-five second and ninth holes and answered her bogeys at the fourth and 16th holes with birdies on the next hole each time, taking only 27 putts.
“I’m an accurate player, so I just aim for the fairway and then for the green,” Icher said. “I try to work on putting to put more putts in. That’s the secret. If you have good putting, you score well.”
Third-ranked Ryu worked with coach Cameron McCormick on ball striking and it paid off with a 68.
“The one thing I really wanted to change is my ball has been starting to the left, so I really wanted to have a nice push draw, and it looks like that push draw is working right now,” Ryu said.
“I know it sounds weird after I shot 68, but still my shot wasn’t really sharp compared to the last few weeks. I really want to get the really sharp shot and hopefully have a really good round for the next three days,” she added.
LPGA rookie Park fired a bogey-free 68.
“This is my second time here, but usually this course is always good,” Park said. “If I just play the way I play, I think the score will come out very well.”
Seong opened her first major with back-to-back birdies and added a hole-in-one at the par-three fifth, the first ace by an amateur in the event’s history coming from 182 yards with a six-iron.
“I cannot see my ball, but my partner said: ‘Oh, hole-in-one. Oh my God.’ This is my second hole-in-one in tournament. That’s why I’m really excited,” Seong said. “My hands shake a little bit, but I was just playing very well, and my hole-in-one today, that’s a good memory.”
Kaohsiung-born Candie Kung of the US completed her round, carding a two-under to finish tied for eighth.
Taiwan’s Yani Tseng and Chien Pei-yun were in a group tied for 80th on two-over. Tseng was on the ninth hole when play was suspended, while Chien had completed the fifth.
Additional reporting by staff writer
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
SSC Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after on Sunday being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with SS Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Shohei Ohtani on Thursday delivered his first two-homer game of the season and had six RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers poured it on with five long balls in a 19-2 victory over the visiting Athletics. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who left no doubt by taking a 13-2 lead following a seven-run third inning. Muncy and Kim Hye-seong each had three hits for Los Angeles. Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer led off a bullpen game by allowing two runs in four innings. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (1-1) finished with four scoreless innings after he
RSS