LOS ANGELES, (MILLAT ONLINE/APP/AFP) – Cristie Kerr
and Caroline Masson joined Karine Icher atop the ANA Inspiration leaderboard on Friday after completion of the weather-hit first round of the year’s first major golf championship.
The trio were tied at five-under 67 as the second round got underway at
Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California.
High winds forced organizers to halt play on Thursday with almost 50
players on the course. Extensive clean-up was required around the course,
including the removal of several downed trees.
France’s Icher was in the clubhouse on 67 on Thursday, her birdies at three
of four par-three holes on the course helping the 38-year-old take the
clubhouse lead.
A four-time winner on the Ladies European Tour, Icher is seeking a first
LPGA Tour title.
America’s Kerr and Germany’s Masson had to complete their rounds on Friday
morning.
Kerr, who finished fourth last week in Carlsbad, California, capped her
round with back-to-back birdies at the eighth and ninth. She finished with six birdies overall but said she wouldn’t get ahead of herself.
“It’s very early in the tournament,” Kerr said. “I’m super happy with my
first round and I’ve just got to take it day by day.”
Although the weather delay made for a long day on Friday, Masson was happy
with the decision to stop play on Thursday.
“I think it was a good call, definitely, because it was getting unplayable
and a little dangerous,” said Masson, who had little more than an hour between the end of her first round and her second-round tee time.
England’s Charley Hull and Norway’s Suzann Pettersen also completed the
first round on Friday morning, joining a group lying one shot off the lead that also included American Michelle Wie and South Koreans Seong Eun-Jeong, Park Sung-Hyun and Ryu So-Yeon.
World number one and defending champion Lydia Ko was in a big group on
two-under par 70 going into the second round.
The group also included Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn, the world number two
who is closing in on Ko’s number one ranking.