RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — Lorena Ochoa figured anything around par is good enough at a major. It took four straight birdies to get into the mix Thursday at the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
Starting with a sand wedge to 2 feet on the 18th hole that she called her best shot of the day, Ochoa zoomed up the leaderboard with a string of birdies around the turn and settled for a solid opening round of 4-under 68, leaving her one shot behind Karen Stupples.
“Just be patient and wait for the right time,” Ochoa said.
Stupples was first out in a gentle breeze and played bogey-free for a 67, getting back into the swing of major golf nearly a year after she gave birth to her first child. But it wasn’t long before she had company.
Ochoa, trying to become the first woman since Annika Sorenstam in 2005 to win consecutive majors, found the perfect distance with a sand wedge from 70 yards and a breeze at her back, spinning the ball back to 2 feet on the 18th hole to set up a a birdie. She birdied the first three holes on the front nine to tie for the lead, and only a three-putt bogey from the fringe and over severe humps on the par-3 eighth kept her from a share of the lead.
Ai Miyazato hit a wedge into tap-in range for birdie on her final hole to join Ochoa at 68, while Natalie Gulbis and Heather Young were another shot behind.
Scott, Wagner shoot 63s
HUMBLE, Texas — Defending champion Adam Scott took advantage of placid early conditions to shoot a course-record 9-under 63, his third straight spectacular round at the Tournament Course at Redstone.
Johnson Wagner matched Scott’s 63 late in the day. Wagner also shared the first-round lead last year and shared the previous course record (64) with Bubba Watson.
Charley Hoffman was two behind the leaders after a 65 and Steve Stricker was three back. Phil Mickelson, one of several top players using Houston as a tuneup for next week’s Masters, shot a 72.
The Associated Press
