England’s Jodi Ewart Shadoff, a 34-year-old veteran still looking for her first career LPGA Tour win, holds a two-shot lead after the first round of the LPGA Mediheal Championship in Somis, Calif., on Thursday.
Ewart Shadoff carded an 8-under-par 64 at The Saticoy Club. Alison Lee and China’s Ruixin Liu are tied for second at 66, with Danielle Kang, South Africa’s Paula Reto and Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul sharing fourth place at 67.
Ten players are tied for seventh place at 68.
Ewart Shadoff has finished in the top 10 on tour 27 times, including this year at the LPGA Match-Play (tied for fifth) and the ShopRite LPGA Classic (third).
On Thursday, she started on the back nine and opened with a birdie, then added an eagle at the par-5 14th hole. She made the turn following consecutive birdies, then had her lone bogey of the day at the par-4 first hole.
Ewart Shadoff finished hot, making four straight birdies ahead of a closing par.
Ewart Shadoff said of The Saticoy Club, “The green complexes are really difficult, and you have to play safe when you need to and be aggressive when you can. So just being able in the right parts of the greens definitely helped, and I felt like did I a good job of doing that today.
“I gave myself a lot of opportunities and I just felt really comfortable and relaxed with the putter today.”
Lee’s bogey-free round concluded with four birdies on the front nine.
“I feel like I was hitting it really good all day today,” Lee said. “I feel like I pretty much hit all my shots in makable birdie range. I could have made a lot more. … I just feel like I played really awesome today.
“I would say it’s not a super easy course. It felt easy today obviously because I played so well. Other than that, you definitely need to think a little bit when you hit your approach shots and really need to keep in mind where the pin is and where the slopes are, too.”
Liu was 1 over par through 5 holes, but a string of four consecutive birdies straddling the turn sparked her bogey-free run for the rest of the round.
Kang produced a strong round in her homecoming to Ventura County, where she grew up.
“All my friends aren’t out here yet, so I’ll let you know when they all come,” Kang said. “My brother coming is a big deal for me, because I love it when he watches. He’s kind of my big teacher. He always knows how my game works. Today he’s going to tell me what went well and what didn’t, and I learn from that.”
Defending champion Matilda Castren of Finland, who established the event’s scoring record of 14-under 274 while beating Taiwan’s Min Lee by two shots last year, is tied for 71st after a 1-over 73. Lee is tied for 39th at 1-under 71.
–Field Level Media
