Kraft Nabisco Championship – 1st Round

Suzann Pettersen fired a bogey-less 67 to take the early lead at the Kraft Nabisco Championship.  Lorena Ochoa is one shot back in second place with seven other players down by two.

Only 22 of the 112 players registered a round below par and while many of them might have been expected to do so, a few were not.  Karen Stupples' 69 and the 71s by Sarah Lee, Stacy Lewis amateur Jennifer Song and Grace Park are the ones which stood out for me.  The rundown of notable scores:

The weather was cool and quiet, although the wind started picking up towards the end of the broadcast.  I was excited to see Louise Friberg at -4 through 8 holes and she got some airtime as one of the leaders but a 42 on her second nine did her in - perhaps the wind got worse.  Ochoa was definitely striking the ball better than last week and with a little better putting luck might have surpassed Pettersen.  Brittany Lincicome and Michelle Wie were paired together and featured prominently, and they didn't disappoint.  Both played smart off the tee and putted well enough to make a good start.  Those last four I mentioned weren't the only Bombers to do well, as you can see if you look closely at the Top 20.

File this one under the Yeah Right Category - the Notes and Interview page at LPGA.com says that Alcott, Hjorth, Alfredsson and Feng all withdrew prior to the first round. 

ESPN threw the kitchen sink at us this week, apparently prepping themselves for next week's Masters.  Here are some of the people I heard on air last night:  Mike Tirico, Paul Azinger, Curtis Strange, Judy Rankin, Andy North, Tom Rinaldi.  I don't think I've ever heard the first three on that list do an LPGA event before.  And I didn't like it.  Many times I felt like I was watching The McLaughlin Group or CNN's old Crossfire show, so many people were talking over each other.  Not to just pick on him, but they may as well send Azinger on his way.  Anybody who finds it necessary to openly disagree with Judy Rankin multiple times in a two-hour LPGA broadcast needs to be shown the door.