THE BLOGFollowing the Evian Masters
Lorena Ochoa shot a 7-under par 65 Thursday to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the $3.25 million Evian Masters. She started with a birdie on the first hole and added six more on the back nine in a bogey-free round in the event co-sanctioned by the LPGA Tour and the Ladies European Tour. Ochoa was a stroke ahead of three players: Sun-ju Ahn, Candie Kung and Angela Park. Park began with eight pars before making birdies on six of the final 10 holes.
Laura Diaz teed off before 8:00 a.m. and took the clubhouse lead with a 5-under 67. the 33-year-old American dominated the back nine, birdieing five of the last eight holes. It was the first time Diaz had shot under 70 in the opening round in 17 tournaments this season. A four-time Solheim Cup player, she has two wins on the LPGA Tour, both in 2002 when she climbed as high as seven in the women’s golf rankings. Diaz was joined at 5 under by fellow Americans Juli Inkster and Angela Stanford, Meena Lee of South Korea and Norway’s Suzann Pettersen.
South Koreans, In-kyung Kim and Kim Young were another shot back along with Amy Yang, while defending champion Natalie Gulbis — who played with Ochoa Thursday — led a group of seven at 3 under.
Annika Sorenstam played Friday, who i personally want to see win, with the status of crowd favorite in what is her final competitive trip to Europe, which concludes with the Ricoh Women’s British Open next week. She will retire at the end of the season. The 2000 and 2002 Evian champion played with Helen Alfredsson and Catrin Nilsmark, an all-Swedish trio of former winners, but had four bogeys and finished with a 71, six shots off the lead.
