LPGA TOUR REPORT

Janice Moodie hits the heights

to lead with a flawless 64

Glasgow's Janice Moodie played some of her best golf ever - anywhere - as she shot a flawless eight-under-par 64 to take a one-stroke lead over 14-year-old Alexis Thompson at the end of the first day of the Navistar LPGA Classic, with Michelle Wie and top-ranked Lorena Ochoa two strokes back at Prattville, Alabama.
Former Curtis Cup player and past Scottish amateur champion Moodie, pictured right, a two-time winner on the LPGA Tour and a Solheim Cup player, played her final nine holes -- the front nine on the Senator Course at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail's Capitol Hill complex, in six-under 30. She birdied her final four holes and six of her last seven.
"All of a sudden I'm hitting driver, wedge, wedge, wedge," Moodie said. "I thought, you know, I better capitalize on this one, and I did. think I was more thinking about how the golf course has dried out compared to making the birdies."
Thompson had eight birdies and a bogey.
"Everything was working for me," said Thompson, a ninth-grader from Coral Springs, Florida. "My ball striking was good. My driver was a little off, but I'm not going to complain. I rolled my putter really good."
The sister of US PGA Tour player Nicholas Thompson, Alexis won the 2008 U.S. Girls' Junior and tied for 34th in July in the U.S. Women's Open.
The 36-year-old Moodie noted that Thompson was "almost a third of my age."
"The thing is, I think she wants to beat me more than I want to beat her," Moodie said. "I used to be that age. I know what it's like."
Thompson made a late decision to travel to Alabama to attempt to qualify. Event officials canceled a Tuesday qualifier when enough spots opened up to add all qualifier participants. "My dad was like, 'You want to go and try to qualify for this event?"' Thompson said. "I was like, 'Yeah, sure, why not?"'
Wie eagled the par-5 fifth -- hitting a 3-wood to 6 feet -- and had five birdies and a bogey on the links-style course.
"It's a fun golf course. It's interesting," Wie said. "It's really nothing like we played all year. You know, it's is fun golf course. You have to put it in the fairway and get on the greens and make the putt."
Ochoa, the defending champion who finished second last week behind Sophie Gustafson in the CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenge in Danville, Calif., had a bogey-free round. She's winless in 11 starts since the Corona Championship in April and has two victories in 17 events this season after winning 21 times in the previous three years.
"I'm feeling good," Ochoa said. "I'm for sure really happy with my round. It was a good day, an easy day, because I didn't make any bogeys. It was just a lot of birdie chances, and we love to have those days."
Karine Icher also opened with a 66, and Alena Sharp, Lisa Strom, Katherine Hull, Na Yeon Choi, Meaghan Francella, Inbee Park, Eunjung Yi, Pat Hurst, Sung Ah Yim and Pornanong Phatlum shot 67s.
Thompson, who had a morning tee time, was the talk of the tournament, even after Moodie took the lead in the afternoon.
"It's amazing," Ochoa said. "I was warming up on the range when I heard that a 14-year-old was winning the tournament. It's very impressive. I wish her the best for the rest of the week."
FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 72
64 Janice Moodie (Sco)
65 Alexis Thompson
66 Michelle Wie, Lorena Ochoa (Mex), Karine Icher (Fra)
67 In-Bee Park (Kor), Pat Hurst, Sung Ah Yim (Kor), Pornanong Phatlum (Tha), Na Yeon Choi (Kor), Eunjung Yi (Kor), Meaghan Francella, Lisa Strom (Gbr), Alena Sharp (Can), Katherine Hull (Aus)
68 Sandra Gal (Ger), Brittany Lang, Christina Kim, M.J. Hur (Kor), Allison Hanna-Williams, Allison Fouch, Nicole Castrale, Hye Jung Choi (Kor), Shanshan Feng (Chn)
69 Chella Choi (Kor), Jamie Hullett, Amy Yang, Angela Park (Bra), Julieta Granada (Par), Ashleigh Simon (Rsa), Paige Mackenzie, Mikaela Parmlid (Swe), Giulia Sergas (Ita), Jennifer Rosales (Phi), Morgan Pressel, Jin Joo Hong (Kor), Hee-Won Han (Kor), Maria Hjorth (Swe), Karin Sjodin (Swe), Laura Davies (Eng)
70 Christi Cano, Stacy Prammanasudh, Meena Lee (Kor), Beth Bader, Brandi Jackson, Haeji Kang (Kor), Anna Rawson (Aus), Candie Kung (Tai), Sophia Sheridan (Mex), Laura Diaz, Erica Blasberg, Sophie Gustafson (Swe)
71 Taylor Leon, Joo Mi Kim (Kor), Minea Blomqvist (Fin), Irene Cho, Jill McGill, Heather Bowie young, Cristie Kerr, Anna Grzebien, Diana D'Alessio, Yani Tseng (Tai), Wendy Doolan (Aus), Sun Young Yoo (Kor), Kim Hall, Song-Hee Kim (Kor), Sarah Lee, Kris Tamulis, Ji-Young Oh (Kor), Teresa Lu (Tai), Natalie Gulbis
72 Kim Welch, Shi Hyun Ahn (Kor), Jordan Hardy, In Kyung Kim (Kor), Na Ri Kim (Kor), Sarah-Jane Smith (Aus), Jeehae Lee (Kor), Leta Lindley, Vicky Hurst, Rachel Hetherington (Aus), Sophie Giquel (Fra), Nicole Jeray, Moira Dunn, Hwa seon Lee (Kor)
73 Reilley Rankin, Russamee Gulyanamitta (Tha), Katie Futcher, Jackie Gallagher-Smith, Louise Friberg (Swe), Jessica Shepley (Can), Mhairi McKay (Sco), Sarah Kemp (Aus), Jennifer Johnson, Kris Tschetter, Hee Young Park (Kor), Karen Stupples (Eng), Lorie Kane (Can), Charlotte Mayorkas, Lee Ann Walker-Cooper, Meredith Duncan, Samantha Richdale, Eva Dahllof (Swe), Amy Hung (Tai), Stacy Lewis
74 Young Kim (Kor), Leah Wigger, Becky Iverson, Ashli Bunch, Laurie Brower, Silvia Cavalleri (Ita), Mollie Fankhauser, Jimin Jeong, Se Ri Pak (Kor), Becky Morgan (Wal), Meg Mallon, Song yi Choi (Kor)
75 Il Mi Chung (Kor), Louise Stahle (Swe), Michelle Ellis, Jee Young Lee (Kor), Mindy Kim, Marisa Baena, Stephanie Louden, Jimin Kang (Kor), Jin young Pak (Kor), Angela Buzminski
76 Carolina Llano, Vicki Goetze-Ackerman, Johanna Mundy (Eng), Angela Jerman, Wendy Ward, Danielle Downey
77 Nontaya Srisawang (Tha), Jeanne Cho-Hunicke, Kim Williams, Audra Burks, Marcy Hart, Kyeong Bae (Kor)
79 Jean Bartholomew
81 Nicole Hage
83 Dorothy Delasin
85 A J Eathorne (Can)
SCOREBOARD TO COME