With 12 birdies and an eagle sandwiched between a bogey on her first hole of the Ginn Open and her closing one today, Ya Ni Tseng fired a course-record 64 to get to -12, good enough for a 3-shot lead over Lorena Ochoa (67) and Minea Blomqvist (66). With the afternoon groups still on the course, Suzann Pettersen (-8 on the tournament with 8 holes left to play) and Carin Koch (-7 with 5 to play) stand the best chance of chasing down the Taiwanese rookie. Stay tuned!
[Update 1 (3:48 pm): Other low rounds today include a 67 from Candie Kung (-3, T16 thus far) and 68s by Angela Stanford (-6, T7) and Eun-Hee Ji (-4, T12). Other low rounds in process include Jee Young Lee's, Morgan Pressel's, and Michele Redman's -4 performances with a handful of holes remaining.]
[Update 2 (4/19/08, 12:32 am): As Hound Dog reports, Suzann Pettersen matched Blomqvist's 66 to pull within 2 shots of Tseng, and Koch matched Teresa Lu's 69 to put the two first-round leaders 4 shots back, T5. So there are 6 in the lead pack--and there could have been fewer if Tseng hadn't missed an easy birdie on 16 and bogeyed 18! People out of the pack will need to improve on Jee Young Lee's 66 and not fall back to earth like Morgan Pressel did (she ended with a 70) if they want to have a chance to be in contention Sunday. I can see Tseng, Blomqvist, Lu, and Koch failing to keep up the sub-70 pace on moving day, but not Ochoa and Pettersen. If that happens, anyone among the top 21 golfers within 5 shots of Ochoa still has a chance to contend--a slim one, but still a chance. Sure, someone who made the cut on the dot (+1) can pull a Pettersen and go double digits under par on the weekend, but the winning score is looking to be in the -14 to -18 range, if not lower, so we're talking back-to-back course records here. Not just more 68s like Becky Lucidi (E, T57), Mikaela Parmlid (-2, T30), and Inbee Park (-3, T22) made.]
[Update 3 (12:37 am): And here's some must-see tv courtesy of HD. If Tseng, Lu, and Tseng continue to impress, by the way, the Seoul Sister community may need to come up with a variation on Eric's "teen Taiwanese terror" sobriquet for the Taiwanese trio.]
[Update 4 (12:57 am): I like Hound Dog's "Junior Mints" suggestion for the Former Super Sophs that I think I'll start using it. Not least because they need a fresh start after Friday's round--besides Blomqvist's, JY Lee's, and Lu's fine rounds, the rest of the class lost ground on the lead pack: Brittany Lang and Allison Fouch got caught by Lee (-4, T13), tied with Eun-Hee Ji and 1 shot back of Super Soph Charlotte Mayorkas (-5, T10); Kyeong Bae got caught by Super Sophs Inbee Park and Song-Hee Kim and rookie Na Yeon Choi (-3, T22); Kristy McPherson got caught by Seon Hwa Lee and Pressel (-2, T30); Ai Miyazato got caught by Karin Sjodin (-1, T41); Julieta Granada kept pace with Super Soph Na On Min (E, T57); and H.J. Choi chased down Super Sophs Angela Park and Ji Young Oh to get to the right side of the cut line (+1, T68). That's 22 Young Guns still playing on the weekend, for those who weren't counting. Meaghan Francella, Kim Hall, and Linda Wessberg were the only ones you'd have expected to join Nina Reis in Cutsville. Unfortunately, NYer Danielle Downey's 69-82 start bought her some beach-side property there. But that's why God made exempt status--Francella, Wessberg, Hall, and Downey will be back. And only 5 of Junior Minds joined the 14-strong contingent on Young Gun Street.]
[Update 5 (1:03 am): Checking the Power Meter, Koch is the only precision player among those in the lead pack, although it should be noted that Pettersen and Ochoa dialed down the driving distance today and posted better numbers. For the record, Jeong Jang did the same but posted the exact same number as when she was bombing it Thursday, 71. If you're hitting a lot of short irons and wedges from the short grass, sure, power matters! But that's a big "if"!]
[Update 6 (1:20 am): Some nice tidbits in the interviews: Blomqvist and Pettersen are good on strategy, Tseng and Ochoa on the mental side, plus Blomqvist is assembling IKEA furniture in her new home just 5 minutes from the course (hey, there's a sponsorship opportunity--I can see the commercial: "Minea Blomqvist, you just faced down the world #1 to win your first tournament. What are you going to be doing tonight?" "Assembling my IKEA furniture, Verne!")
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