Tavatanakit leads, with some big names in hunt
Michelle Wie West was back on a major championship leaderboard Thursday at the ANA Inspiration. So was Shanshan Feng in her first tournament in 16 months.
Playing for the second straight week after a 21month break, Wie West shot a two-under 70, leaving her four strokes behind leader Patty Tavatanakit after the morning wave.
Feng birdied three of her last five holes for a bogeyfree 67 in the morning, The Chinese star hadn’t played a competitive round since November 2019 because of the coronavirus pandemic and a recent visa delay.
Wie West was in the second group off the 10th tee, opening to little fanfare with no spectators at Mission Hills for the 50th edition of the event.
“It’s definitely weird. It doesn’t have the same vibe,” Wie West said.
Wie West first played the event in 2003, tying for ninth at age 13.
Tavatanakit, the 21-yearold former UCLA player from Thailand, closed with a birdie on the par-five 18th for a bogey-free 66. She reached all the par fives in two, birdieing three of them.
Villegas’ 64 leads
Camilo Villegas chipped in twice to highlight a ninebirdie round that earned him an eight-under 64 and the first-round lead at the Valero Texas Open at San Antonio.
Sung Kang is two shots back with Cameron Tringale after each carded 66 at TPC San Antonio’s Oaks Course in the final tuneup for the Masters. Jordan Spieth, whose struggles the past three years appear to be subsiding after four top-10 finishes the past two months, sits three back (67) with Seung-Yul Noh and Hideki Matsuyama.
Phil Mickelson had a 10 on the 18th hole — he took two penalty shots and another three strokes trying to get away from a greenside stream — and ended with a 79.