Moriya fires hole-in-one at Kia Classic
Thai tied for fourth spot as sister Ariya and world No.1 Ko struggle at Kia Classic on day one
>> CARLSBAD: Aided by a hole-in-one, Thailand’s Moriya Jutanugarn got off to a good start at the Kia Classic on Thursday.
Moriya, who is seeking her first LPGA title, shot a four-under-par 68 in a roller-coaster round with one ace at the par-three 11th hole, five birdies and three bogeys.
She was tied for fourth along with France’s Karine Icher, South Korea’s Lee Mi-Rim and Kim HyoJoo, and Americans Alison Lee and Marissa Steen.
They were two shots behind coleaders South Korean Chun In-Gee and Americans Cristie Kerr and Mo Martin.
Top-ranked and defending champion Lydia Ko of New Zealand and No.2 Ariya Jutanugarn struggled with 74s to stay joint 81st.
Chun was among the last players to finish in the first round, with birdies on five of the last seven holes.
“Greens were a little bumpy this afternoon so I stayed patient [and] so I made a good round,” Chun said.
She will seek her third major title next week at the ANA Inspiration after the 2015 US Women’s Open and last year’s Evian Championship.
The 22-year-old was runner-up to Ko at last year’s ANA Inspiration.
Martin fired a bogey-free 66. She opened with a birdie, ran off three birdies in a row starting at the fifth and added birdies at the 10th and 17th.
“Just had a really good putting day,” Martin said. “I’ve been waiting for a good putting week and I had a good putting day today. It was great.”
Kerr took her lone bogey at the second hole but birdied the third as well as all four par-five holes.
“I hit some close and made some longer putts. It was a good mix of stuff out there,” she said.
“I had some long talks with my coach,” she added. “I just needed to simplify my swing feel and not overcomplicate things. So kind of went back to some simple feels and played awesome.”