RANCHO MIRAGE, California (AP) ― Suzann Pettersen and Choi Na-yeon pushed each other to the top of the leaderboard in perfect morning conditions in the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
Jodi Ewart Shadoff matched them late Thursday afternoon with a scrambling par on the par-5 18th after her drive went to the right and found the deep rough behind a tall tree.
“There were two options,” said Ewart Shadoff, the 25-year-old Englishwoman in her second full year on the LPGA Tour. “Punch fade it around the tree, left, or punch it right around the tree and keep it over the bunker at the same time. I took the safer route and it paid off.”
Korea’s Choi Na-yeon lines up a putt on the eighth green. (AFP-Yonhap News)
It left her with a 187-yard shot into the wind to the water-guarded green. While most players hit wedges on their third shots on the hole, she had to use a 3-wood.
“The wind picked up,” she said.
Her shot settled on the back right of the green, and the newlywed lagged her 30-footer to tap-in range to tie Pettersen and Choi at 4-under 68 at Mission Hills.
“I’ve been playing really consistently the last three or four tournaments, so I knew, my game is right there and I knew I was due to have a really good round,” Ewart Shadoff said.
Bettencourt, Tomasulo on top at Texas Open
SAN ANTONIO (AP) ― Matt Bettencourt and Peter Tomasulo shot 5-under par 67s to earn the surprising lead after the first round of the Texas Open on Thursday, holding off a field that includes world No. 2 Rory McIlroy.
Bettencourt made the tournament as an alternate. The former Reno-Tahoe Open winner needed only 25 putts, joining Tomasulo in holding off a group of four players ― including three-time major winner Padraig Harrington ― at 4 under.
Harrington and Billy Horschel shared the lead following the morning tee times, battling chilly and windy conditions. They were joined by Bryce Molder and Harris English at 4 under in the afternoon.