26 March 2021: The buzz around Aviara Golf Club focused on Michelle Wie West making her first start on the LPGA Tour since June 2019 at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, but it was the queen of steady, Inbee Park, who stole the show. Aditi Ashok started her week with a 74, having conceded bogeys at the seventh and ninth holes. She posted a birdie at the 13th hole but conceded a stroke on the 18th to return home at 2-over in T66.
A 20-time LPGA Tour winner with seven major titles to her name, Park worked her way around Aviara Golf Club like a surgeon, posting a bogey-free, 6-under 66. The performance gives her the outright advantage, the eighth time in her storied career that she has either held or shared an 18-hole lead.
“Really happy with the round today, especially I putted really good on these greens,” said Park, who only needed 27 putts in round one. “I know it’s going to be a test of some patience with the putting greens and obviously, being my first week out, I am probably a little bit rusty.
“I’m just trying to get the tournament feeling going for the next three days. If results are good, it’s great, but if not, I’m just warming up. It’s a good warmup for a first day.”
Making her 11th start at the Kia Classic, Park’s average finish in the event is 10th. She has never missed a cut, earned three runner-up results and her “worst finish” came in 2017 when she tied for 21st.
“The course is not overly long and I hit quite a few short irons into the greens so I get opportunities for birdies,” Park said. “It’s just a matter of holing some putts out here. With poa annua greens, it’s really tough to get the speed and break right. I seem to do quite well on these greens.”
Playing in her first LPGA tournament since the 2019 CME Group Tour Championship, Hyo Joo Kim recorded eight birdies en route to a 5-under 67. She trails the 18-hole lead at the Kia Classic by one.
“I think I was able to get a lot of birdies because of the first hole where I bogeyed and after the bogey, I told myself to focus a lot more,” said Kim, who hit 14 greens in regulation on day one in Carlsbad, Calif. “I also made a lot of mistakes today that I shouldn’t have. Tomorrow, I’m looking forward to not making as many mistakes and having a great round.”
Four players are tied for third at -4: Stephanie Meadow, In Gee Chun, 2020 AIG Women’s Open champion Sophia Popov and Mel Reid, a 2020 Rolex First-Time Winner at the ShopRite LPGA Classic.
“Hopefully I don’t finish like I did in 2019,” said Meadow, who opened with a 5-under 67 and then went 4-over on the weekend at the 2019 Kia Classic. “I like this golf course. I feel like if you hit good golf shots you will be rewarded, and if you don’t hit it in the fairway it’s really penalizing, so that kind of plays into the strength of my game. It’s a pretty walk, gorgeous course and just easy to be happy out there.”
On her first hole of the day, Wie West found a birdie but then battled to a 9-over 81 in her first competitive round in 21 months. Local favorite Haley Moore, a native of Escondido, Calif., is 3-over following round one and defending champion Nasa Hataoka finds herself tied for 135th at +7. In her first start as a LPGA Tour Member, 2020 U.S. Women’s Open champion A Lim Kim shot 6-over and is tied for 127th.
