Stephanie Meadow sits eight shots off the pace after a one-over-par 72 on the opening day of the LA Championship at Wiltshire Country Club.
Meadow was among the early starters and the 32-year-old dropped a shot on the tenth and closed out her round with seventeen successive pars in a remarkable birdie drought.
The Jordanstown woman shares 60th place while Grace Kim holds the lead on seven-under-par.
Kim carded an excellent round of 64 leaving her one shot ahead of Sweden’s Maja Stark, Thailand’s Chanettee Wannasaen and South Korea’s Sei Young Kim.
The 23-year-old Australian capped her bogey-free round with a chip-in birdie on the par-3 18th, albeit a fortunate one.
“Well, I chunked my tee shot on the last hole 20 meters short and then I chipped it in it,” Kim said. “I think that’s pretty cool, in front of everyone.”
Kim won the LOTTE Championship last year in a playoff in Hawaii for her first LPGA Tour title but arrived following a missed cut at the Chevron Championship.
“If I was to compare my round today to last week, I really focused on just not having too much in my mind,” she said. “I think I over-thought a lot of things through my first and second round last week and struggled a little bit mentally.”
Auston Kim, South Korea’s Haeran Ryu and Russia’s Nataliya Guseva are tied for fifth at five under.
Defending champion Hannah Green Amy Yang and Bianca Pagdanganan share eighth place at four under.
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