UNHERALDED SWEDE LINDBERG LEADS ANA INSPIRATION

CALIFORNIA: Unheralded Swede Pernilla Lindberg (pic) birdied her final two holes to take a one-stroke lead over Ayako Uehara and Beatriz Recari after the first round at the ANA Inspiration in California.

Perfect scoring conditions prevailed as the women’s Major season started with low scores with more than half the field shooting par or better at Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage on Thursday.

American Lexi Thompson, who lost a playoff last year after incurring a four-stroke penalty for replacing her ball in the wrong spot for a tap-in putt in the third round, made a good start in her quest for redemption with a 68.

But South Korean Ryu So-yeon, who beat Thompson last year, started poorly with a 75 that did not include a single birdie.

Lindberg, out in the last group of the day off the 10th tee, stole the limelight, gathering seven birdies, including a chip-in at her 15th hole, the par-four sixth.

She finished in style moments before the sun dipped below the nearby San Jacinto mountains, coaxing in an eight-foot birdie at her last.

Her eight-foot putt caught the right edge of the hole before dropping in, as the 31-year-old pumped her right fist in delight.

“I started off solid and ended even better,” said Lindberg, who has never won in nine seasons on the LPGA Tour.

“The whole day it was pretty steady. I was never in too much trouble. Sure, I was in the rough a few times and had to make a couple of good up-and-downs around the greens, but I never put myself under too much stress.”

Uehara, one shot back, made what could have been a demoralising bogey at her opening hole, but responded well with birdies at the next two.

“I had a three-putt, and I kind of played tight,” she said, adding that she had not started to relax until making three successive birdies around the turn.”