Americans Lead North Texas Shootout
All the attention leading into this week was on the youngsters – Rolex World Golf Rankings No. 1 Lydia Ko (18) and 17-year-old Brooke Henderson, who just finished in solo third a week ago. But at the conclusion of the first round, everyone was staring up at two veterans – Juli Inkster and Cristie Kerr – who have a combined 48 wins and nine major championships amongst them.
Inkster, Kerr, and Sydnee Michaels all fired 5-under-par 66s on Thursday to take a one- shot lead at the Volunteers of America North Texas Shootout Presented by JTBC.
Inkster, the 2015 United States Solheim Cup Captain, has had a string of impressive first rounds recently. She was just two back after the first round at the ANA Inspiration after a 3-under 69 and was just one shot back after the first round last week at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic Presented by CTBC. She ultimately finished in a tie for 64th and a tie for 15th, respectively, but has certainly seen her game trending in the right direction.
“I’ve been playing pretty good,” Inkster said. “I’ve been trying to slowly by slowly get a little confidence back in my game, and even last week, I didn’t play too bad on Friday and Saturday, it was just tough conditions.”
Kerr, after winning a month ago at the Kia Classic, didn’t arrive feeling the same about her game. Since her win, she’d been frustrated with consecutive finishes of T41, T7 and T18.
“I saw my coach this week,” Kerr said. “I had struggled with my ball-striking the last couple weeks, and it was nice to hit some really pure shots out there today.”
Michaels went out in the last group of the day and posted a bogey-free round with a birdie at the par-3 17th to jump into the group with Inkster and Kerr.
“I just hit a lot of good shots, and I made a few good putts in the beginning,” Michaels said. “I just felt really confident today.”
It’s a crowded leaderboard at the top, though, with 10 players – Lexi Thompson, Karine Icher, Angela Stanford, Sandra Gal, Gerina Piller, Wei-Ling Hsu, Alena Sharp, Maria Hernandez, Ryann O’Toole, and Natalie Gulbis – all just one shot back of the co-leaders. As a result, Inkster’s not getting ahead of herself of thinking she could best Beth Daniel by a little more than eight years as the oldest winner on the LPGA Tour.
“I’m not really looking forward to winning,” Inkster said. “I mean, I’ve played good at first rounds and really haven’t played good my second rounds, so I’m looking forward to going out there. I drove the ball really well today and hit a lot of good iron shots, so that’s what I’m looking forward to doing tomorrow, and add them up and see how I’m doing.”
