Florida's Natural Charity Classic: Symetra Tour starts in Winter Haven
Florida’s Natural Charity Classic has officially kicked off the LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association) Symetra Tour in Winter Haven.
Florida's Natural Charity Classic is featuring a strong field comprising key players. Most important of all, the defending champion of the event Tzu-Chi Lin is also in the field.
Analysts have predicted that Lin may find it hard to defend her title, as the field this year is more competent than the last season.
According to the details of the first round of the tournament, American Seul-Ki Park stunned the spectators, as she fired a 5-under 67 to grab an early lead.
Determined not to surrender to her nerve, Park played calculated strokes on most of the holes and kept the pressure on her nearest rivals.
The tournament being played at the Lake Region Yatch & Country Club concluded its first day in comfortable weather conditions.
Players made the most of the calm weather, as modest winds whipped through the course most of the day.
Park appeared to be in great form, as she kicked off her day with confidence. She parred the first hole, but seemed to lose her momentum on the second hole, as she carded a bogey.
Park was aware of other players who were struggling to surge ahead. She picked up pace and reeled off a birdie on the par-3 third hole.
Park started the tournament on the back-nine, which saw her shooting calculated strokes. She drained a birdie on the par-5 11th. Other players also tried to forge ahead by making good strokes.
Although Park appeared to be in a stronger position than most of the players in the field, she faced trouble on some of the holes.
“On hole 10, which is where I started, I hit my drive, I hit my approach shot well, had an uphill putt and my hands were shaking,” said Park with a smile on her face.
“It felt like my very first tournament but I think I was just excited. Throughout the whole round I really had to push myself not to be nervous and just do my thing”.
She added that firing 5 birdies on the back nine was a game changer in her opinion, as other players also made efforts to get ahead of her.
The par-3 15th, which is the most difficult hole on the course, turned out to be a refreshing experience for the American star. She birdied the hole to consolidate her position on the leaderboard.
“Everything just kind of clicked, I took advantage of the opportunities,” said Park.
“I was hitting good distance, I was always 10 feet from the hole and gave myself plenty of opportunities. My putter was really hot on the front nine, I had a couple birdies in a row”.
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