Wie West, Fang back in hunt

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — Michellewie West was back on a major championship leaderboard Thursdayatthe ANA Inspiration. So was Shanshan Feng in her first tournament in 16 months.

Playing for the second straight week after a 21-month break, Wie West shot a 2-under-par 70, leaving her four strokes behind leader Patty Tavatanakit.

Feng birdied three of her last five holes for a bogey-free 67. The 10-time winner on tour from China hadn’t played a competitive round since November 2019 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and a recent visa delay.

She got a break on the par-3 17th — her eighth hole — when she hit a chip too hard and it slammed against the flagstick and in for birdie.

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. She first played the event in 2003, tying for ninth at age 13.

Tavatanakit, a 21-yearold former UCLA player from Thailand, closed with a birdie on the par-5 18th for a bogey-free 66. She reached all the par 5s in two, birdieing three of them.

Leona Maguire of Ireland matched Feng with a 67 in the afternoon with the temperature in the low 90s. Triple-digit heat was expected the next three days.

Thai sisters Ariya and

Moriya Jutanugarn were at 68 with fellow afternoon starters Anna Nordqvist and Megan Khang. Ariya Jutanugarn nearly holed her second shot on the par-5 18th, then lipped out a 4-foot eagle try.

Past champions Lexi Thompson, Inbee Park and Lydia Ko joined Wie West in the large group at

70. Park, a Bishop Gorman product, won the Kia Classic on Sunday in her first start of the year.

■ PGA: At San Antonio, Camilo Villegas chipped in twice in a nine-birdie round that earned him an 8-under 64 and a firstround Valero Texas Open lead. Sung Kang and Cameron Tringale were tied for second, two shots back. Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama and Seung-yul Hoh were three back.