GOLD CANYON, ARIZONA (AP) – 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 yesterday 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.
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.
Lee, who made the cut in 22 of her 24 events last season with a T-5 as her best finish at the Women’s Scottish Open, felt she left some shots on the course.
“This sounds cliche, but I just feel like it was one of those days,” Lee said. “Golf just was easy. I honestly was playing so good I feel like I could have shot a lower round out there today.”
