RANCHO MIRAGE, CA (March 31, 2017) -- After
high winds delayed its completion on Thursday,
the first round of the ANA Inspiration has come
to a close and the story remains to be Eun Jeong
Seong. The reigning
U.S. Women's
Amateur and U.S. Girls' Junior winner opened
the ANA Inspiration with a 4-under 68 before
play was halted yesterday
and she will begin the second round tied for
fourth, just one shot off the lead.
Seong only trails the 5-under trio of Karine
Icher, Cristie Kerr and Caroline Masson.
Seong came flying out of the gates
on Thursday at
Mission Hills Country Club with birdies on Nos. 1
and
2 and then a hole-in-one on the 5th hole to
swiftly
reach 4-under.
The ace was the 22nd in ANA Inspiration history
and
first in five years.
On the 8th hole Seong reached 5-under with her
third birdie of the day before she gave back
shots
with bogeys on Nos. 10 and 12 to fall to 3-under.
Looking to rebound, Seong did just that with a
fourth birdie on the 15th hole.
14-year-old Lucy Li also turned in an under-par
round on Thursday. The ANA Junior Inspiration
winner carded a 1-under 71 with two birdies and
a
bogey. For Li, tied for 33rd, the birdies came on
Nos. 3 and 16.
Remaining Amateurs in the Field
Paphangkorn Tavatanakit (+2; T79):
The UCLA commit carded two birdies and four
bogeys in the first round. The birdies dropped on
Nos. 11 and 18.
Andrea Lee (+2; T79): For Lee it was a
fairly mundane round of golf with three bogeys
and a birdie. Lee, a freshman at Stanford,
dropped in her lone birdie on the 11th hole.
Hannah O'Sullivan (+3; T88): Last years
low amateur, O'Sullivan tallied a pair of birdies
and five first round bogeys. The Duke commit
penciled in her circles on Nos. 2 and 12.
Katelyn Dambaugh (+8; T106): The
South Carolina senior could never get it going in
the first round, carding 15 pars and a few
unfortunate big numbers.
