Golf Update: Cristie Kerr leads the Lorena Ochoa Invitational
The American golfer, Cristie Kerr, posted an eight under par 64 to take a three stroke lead over Stacy Lewis in the LPGA Lorena Ochoa Invitational. Taking place at the Guadalajara Country Club in Mexico, this tournament is the second last event of the LPGA
circuit. Kerr not only took the lead with her amazing score but also set a tournament record yesterday. The previous course record was established by Brittany Lang in 2008, when she posted a 65. This record was matched last year by In-Kyung Kim and Song-Hee
Kim.
Ranked number three in the world, Kerr posted birdies in nine of her first fifteen holes. She dropped a stroke on the par-3 17th however, which was possibly her first or only slip of the day. Kerr said she felt really good out there and thinks
she won today for herself and wants to do the same out there tomorrow.
"When you're swinging well, you have good confidence and I had lot of good yardages into the hole today," Kerr said.
"So, I had good control of my ball, and if I have good control of my ball, then I can still be aggressive. Every day's different."
Cristie posted three birdies in her first seven holes and then really caught fire. At the tenth hole, Kerr managed two back to back birdies but posted a bogey on the thirteenth hole. Birdie on eleventh, par on thirteenth and then three consecutive birdies
really gave her a secured advantage over the others. She dropped a tee shot within nine foot at 13 and drained a birdie effort. Kerr gave a three-foot birdie putt on 14, and eight footer on the 15th hole which moved her to nine under. After managing
par at the 16th hole, she bogeyed the 17th hole. Even though things didn’t end on a ‘birdie’ note, Kerr had already sealed the deal.
After Kerr, Stacy Lewis is in second place alone. She managed to give two birdies on the front nine and three birdies on the back. She said she played well today and is happy with her performance.
Na Yeon Choi, who is ranked fourth in the world, posted a four under and is in third place with Paula Creamer, Katherine Hull and Ai Miyazato. Creamer is ranked number ten where as Miyazato is number six right now.
Ai was number one earlier this year but that position is now taken by Jiyai Shin. Shin, who recently won the Mizuno Classic, decided to take some time off from golf. She is going to rest up and be in good form for the Tour Championship in December. Even
though she isn’t participating this week, she will stay number one in the rankings.
The world number two player, Yani Tseng, didn’t do well in the first round and finished with a six over 78.
The defending champion of the event Michelle Wie won her first LPGA title here last year. She managed to card a 78 before she withdrew due to a back injury. She was very excited to be here but unfortunately can’t play anymore. Her doctors took an MRI and
discovered two minute cysts near her spine and a little disc bulge. Although it’s nothing serious, it is still a hindrance in her athletic abilities.
The host of the tournament, Lorena Ochoa, took part in competitive golf after quite some time since the player retired from the game earlier this year. She opened with a two over 74 that consisted of three birdies, a bogey and two double bogeys. Her performance
is evident that the player is quite rusty now that she is retired. She said that even though it’s good to be back, it would be nice if she had had a better round today.
Overall, being the last event before the LPGA Tour finale, the Lorena Ochoa Invitational has gotten all the ladies keyed up.
Tags: