Jennifer Kupcho came to the LPGA Tour armed with a fancy amateur resume and huge potential but she’s still searching for that first victory.
Kupcho got off to a fast start Thursday at the women’s first major of the season — she shot an opening round 66 at the Chevron and was tied at the top of the leaderboard with world No. 4 Minjee Lee.
Kupcho arrived as Mission Hills early after missing the cut last week at the JTBC Classic. “Honestly, I just don’t like that course (Aviara). It just doesn’t fit my eye. I got here (Mission Hills) early and spent a lot of practice on the greens.” It paid off as she put nine birdies on her card but lost her chance for a really low score thanks to three bogeys for the round.
“I haven’t been hitting my driver that well the last couple of days,” she admitted, but she found it more reliable on day one of the last go-round for this major championship at Mission Hills.
Kupcho was cautious however. “It’s a lot of golf (to be played). I love this place.”
As for Lee, she was the best performer out of the world’s top 10. She birdied all the par fives.
“It was perfect,” Lee said of the Thursday conditions. “Not like a breath of wind when we played. Maybe just a tiny bit. But conditions are great. Putting greens are rolling real nice. I don’t think you can get better than that.”
Lee won the Evian Championship last summer for her first major title and sixth LPGA Tour victory. “I know I have one under my belt, but I do want a little bit more,” Lee said. “I just think I have a little bit more belief in myself and my game, so I can be a little bit more comfortable just hitting the shots.”
Defending champion Patty Tavatankit put herself in great position for a repeat win. Last year’s winner opened with a five-under par 67. “Really proud,” Tavatanakit said. “I feel like I really got my momentum going, was really present today.”
World No. 3 Lydia Ko put herself in the hunt with a four-under par 68.
Others in the top 10 didn’t fare as well. No. 1 Jin Young Ko, who had issues last week at the JTBC, saw her streak of sub-par rounds come to an end. She shot 74 and needs a better effort on Friday to make the 36-hole cut. No. 5 Atthaya Thittikul shot 74, Inbee Park 76, Danielle Kang 73, Sei Young Kim 70, Nasa Hataoka 71 and No. 10 Brooke Henderson was in with an even par 72.
Rain Causes Problems, Delays At ANWA, Favorites In Trouble:
Day-long rain fell in Augusta Thursday and finally let up enough for second round play at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur to get underway at the late hour of 3 p.m.
Only nine of the 72-player field managed to finish the second round which means the rest will have to finish Friday morning.
Beatrice Wallin, Amari Avery and Hailey Borja were tied at the top at even par. Wallin and Avery finished 16 holes, Borja played 11.
As it stands, and it will most likely change, the 36-hole cut stands at five-under par and it’s projected that there may be some sort of playoff at that number. But there’s still golf to play.
The two favorites coming into the event — No. 1-ranked amateur Rose Zhang from Stanford and Rachel Heck, her teammate ranked No. 2, are both struggling. Zhang is five-over for the tournament with four holes left to play on Friday morning while Heck is six-over with eight holes left to play.
Play will resume at 7:30 a.m. Friday morning. First round co-leader Anna Davis, who finished two-over after a second round 76, will be the first to play a practice rounds at Augusta National Golf Club.
The rest of the field will follow them over to the iconic final-round venue upon completion of their second rounds. Menne’s group is expected to finish around 10:30 a.m., with a playoff to determine the 30-player cut following.
Friday Morning Update: World No. 1 Rose Zhang got down to business. She birdied her final three holes early Friday, posted a second round 71 and at three-over par, easily made it to the final round Sunday at Augusta National. She’s only three shots off the lead: Beatrice Wallen (73-71) and Latanna Stone (72-72) were the early second round leaders at even par.
 Shares First Round Lead At Chevron){kind=link}