ANA Inspiration 2017: Karine Icher Tops Leaderboard After Winds Suspended Play
Karine Icher finished Thursday atop the leaderboard at the Ana Inspiration in Rancho Mirage, California, though play had to be suspended in the evening session due to high winds.
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Icher shot a five-under 67 to take the early lead, though four players were nipping at her heels at just one stroke behind.
You can see the leaderboard below.
| 1 | Karine Icher | -5 | F |
| T2 | So Yeon Ryu | -4 | F |
| T2 | Sung Hyun Park | -4 | F |
| T2 | Michelle Wie | -4 | F |
| T2 | Eun Jeong Seong | -4 | F |
| T6 | Jenny Shin | -3 | F |
| T6 | Lexi Thompson | -3 | F |
| T8 | Sakura Yokomine | -2 | F |
| T8 | Jin-Young Ko | -2 | F |
| T8 | Pernilla Lindberg | -2 | F |
| T8 | Mi Jung Hur | -2 | F |
| T8 | Mirim Lee | -2 | F |
| T8 | Candie Kung | -2 | F |
| T8 | Anna Nordqvist | -2 | F |
| T8 | Haru Nomura | -2 | F |
| T8 | Paula Creamer | -2 | F |
| T8 | Ha-Na Jang | -2 | F |
| T8 | Simin Feng | -2 | F |
| T8 | Christina Kim | -2 | 11 |
| T8 | Caroline Masson | -2 | 8 |
| T8 | Charley Hull | -2 | 7 |
| T8 | Suzann Pettersen | -2 | 6 |
| T8 | Lydia Ko | -2 | 5 |
"I'm an accurate player, so I just aim for the fairway and then for the green," Icher said after her strong round, per LPGA.com. "I try to work on putting to put more putts in. That's the secret. If you have good putting, you score well."
While Icher is still seeking her first LPGA Tour win, she's no stranger to being in the running.
"I'm probably the player with the most top 10s without winning, so I'm used to it," she said. "I'm going to keep focused and keep my game on and try to sink some putts, and we'll see from there."
Icher balanced out two bogeys with an impressive seven birdies, including this superb putt on No. 17:
Michelle Wie, meanwhile, found herself in the group of players trailing Icher at four-under. The LPGA shared her highlights from Thursday's action:
Amateur Eun Jeong Seong was perhaps the biggest surprise of the day, joining in the pack of Wie, So Yeon Ryu and Sung Hyun Park at one stroke back. Seong also provided the biggest surprise of the day, with a hole-in-one on No. 5.
"I couldn't see my ball, but my partner said, 'Oh, hole-in-one. Oh, my God.' This is my second hole-in-one in a tournament. That's why I'm really excited today," Seong said. "My hands shook a little bit. But I'm just playing very well..."
Ryu was also on her game, with the LPGA providing highlights:
Nobody was steadier than Park, however, who didn't finish with a single bogey on the day.
With a slew of players three strokes or less behind Icher—and a number of players who have yet to finish the first round—her lead is hardly safe heading into the weekend. As long as the wind behaves, the Ana Invitational should be headed for a tight finish.
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