RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Patty Tavatanakit may still be learning about what it takes to win on the LPGA, but the 21-year-old from Thailand seems like a fast learner.
Saying this season feels like an extension of her rookie year, Tavatanakit fired a stellar 6-under 66 on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills Country Club on Thursday to take the first-round lead in the ANA Inspiration, the first major championship on the LPGA this season.
The round continued what has been a hot start to 2021 for Tavatanakit, who was a rookie in the truncated 2020 season. The former UCLA Bruin will enter the second round with a one-shot lead over Shanshan Feng, who didn’t play on the LPGA in 2020, and Leona Maguire, who finished her round hours after Tavatanakit and Feng completed their rounds.
Anna Nordqvist and Ariya Jutanugarn each fired first-round 68s on a day that saw little wind and some cloud cover. Among a group at 69 are the last two winners of the ANA Inspiration, Mirim Lee and Jin Young Ko.
ANA Inspiration: Leaderboard | Photos
Also on the leader board at 70, tied with names such as Lexi Thompson, is Michelle Wie West. Wie West last played in the major championship in 2019 and has been married and had a baby since then. Thursday was her third round on the LPGA this year after missing the cut at the Kia Classic in Carlsbad last week. It has been 18 years since Wie West debuted in the event as a 13-year-old.
“You know, looking back, I was a kid,” said Wie West, now 31, of her debut in the event. “I still feel like a kid. Having a baby definitely puts a different perspective on everything. I’m more excited to go home and see her than I was about my round, to be honest.”
Tavatanakit struggled at times in her rookie season, missing cuts in seven of 14 starts with just one top-10 finish. But already in 2021 she has a tie for fifth in the Gainbridge LPGA and a tie for 14th at the LPGA Drive On Championship in Florida. She comes to the ANA Inspiration, her fourth start in the event, off a missed cut at the Kia Classic in Carlsbad last week.
“It takes a lot out here to play well week after week, day after day. It’s a really tough job, tough sport,” Tavatanakit said. “Not every day is gonna go your way.
“Today, even though it’s a 6-under, it was not a perfect golf,” she added. “It was, I mean, a lot out there, but I would take that any day. Golf is not a perfect sport.”
Closing in on a win
With another appearance on the leader board in 2021, Tavatanakit said she certainly feels like she is learning each week.
“I feel like just growth into being in contention and just keep learning, keep being in it,” she said. “Eventually like I’ll be able to finish it out. It doesn’t have to be this week. I have a long career ahead of me, and I’m just going to keep playing the way I’m playing.”
Part of Tavatanakit’s success Thursday was taking the advantage of the par-5s on the Shore Course, hitting all four in two shots including the island green on the 18th hole that set up a closing birdie. Handling the par-5s shows the progress in Tavatanakit’s already impressive game.
“It helped playing the course at a really young age (as an amateur), seeing it differently. I feel like I’m hitting it the furthest I’m hitting,” she said. “I could never reach the green on 9 for the three times I played here, and I was able to do it today. I was telling my caddie, man, I’ve got a little bit of a different game here. I’m hitting it a little further, and if anything a little straighter.”
Feng’s bogey-free 67 was made more remarkable because the Chinese star didn’t play in 2020
“Last year was a difficult year for everybody, and I just made a decision at the middle of the year to go back to China and maybe take some time off with my friends and family at home,” Feng said. “And I really enjoyed the whole time over there, but of course I missed playing. So I started to practice like maybe a few months ago. Tried to come back little earlier but I couldn’t because of the visa.”
Feng’s round included five birdies and no bogeys, showing she hasn’t lost much from her game after a year on the sidelines.
“I’m saying that I’m an old rookie, but it’s not like I’ve never been in tournaments before,” Feng said. “So I know what it takes to play well in the tournament, and I really did work on like, to get my distance back because I did lose some distance.”
Maguire birdied two of her final four holes to crawl into the chase at 5-under, while other golfers had chances on the par-5 18th to make a move but made just pars or even bogeys on the demanding hole.
