66. That's what Lorena Ochoa shot at Tres Marias today in the first round of the Corona Championship. Starting on the back, she made 3 birdies and a bogey for a 35, then started the front in ho-hum fashion with 4 pars in a row (6 counting the 17th and 18th). In her last few holes, though, she caught fire, going eagle-birdie-par-eagle-par to finish her round with a 31 on the front.
Sure, other people in the morning pairings had great 9s: Audra Burks had a hole-in-one and 3 birdies on the back to start her day with a 32; Kim Williams had a 32 on the front and was -5 on her day until a late bogey brought her back to Burke's 69. And Inbee Park was on pace for a 33 on the back until bogeys on the 17th and 18th brought her back to T2 at -4. But nobody was able to sustain the combination of going low and avoiding big mistakes that have given Ochoa her 3-shot lead on her closest competitors thus far.
With the afternoon groups still out on the course, Sophie Gustafson has opened with a bogey-free 32 on the front, but no one else is lighting up Tres Marias right now. Stay tuned!
[Update 1 (7:10 pm): Well, well, well! Some Young Guns responded to Ochoa's challenge! Song-Hee Kim, who's struggled on the LPGA after ruling the Futures Tour a couple of years ago, fired a 66 of her own, matching Williams's 32 on the front in the process. And rookie Hee-Young Park seems to have gotten her game in gear on her last 9 holes, the front, where she matched Ochoa's 31 to finish at -5, alone in 3rd. More later!]
[Update 2 (9:21 pm): Correction--Park actually had a 38 on the back, so she joins Carin Koch, Na Yeon Choi, and the players I already mentioned at 69, 3 back of Kim and Ochoa. 26 players in all went under par, but Hee-Won Han was not one of them--her 74 puts her 8 back of the leaders!]
[Update 3 4/11/08, 4:27 am): Hound Dog's first-round recap covers a lot of ground quickly--sounds like someone has been watching a lot of the Masters!]
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