FIRST MAJOR OF SEASON

Miyazato, Munoz share ANA Inspiration lead, Catriona Matthew tied 3rd on four under par

Ai Miyazato co-leads after the first round of the ANA Inspiration. ( Getty Images ) 

FROM GOLFWEEK.COM

By Kevin Casey

In 12 previous LPGA starts in 2016, Ai Miyazato and Azahara Munoz had combined for just one top-30 finish. But that didn't seem to matter on Thursday.
The pair matched scores of 5-under 67 at Mission Hills' Dinah Shore Tournament Course, moving into an early share of the lead at the ANA Inspiration. Miyazato went bogey-free and Munoz posted a flawless scorecard until a surprising bogey at the par-5 18th.
“It's always exciting to be here,” Miyazato said. “I know a lot of history and background. Well, obviously I haven't really played well on this golf course, but finally my game is coming all together."
That on-course progression began emerging last week. Ahead of the Kia Classic, Miyazato's best finish all year had been a tie for 50th. But thanks to bookend rounds of 67 and 66 at Aviara Golf Club, Miyazato posted a third-place showing in California.
She's followed it up with another score in the mid-60s, and apparently the nine-time LPGA winner saw all of this coming.
“I’ve been feeling good about my game since the beginning of the season,” Miyazato said. “I said to myself just be patient until the scoring is going to be good. I had a good self talk since the beginning of the season, so I actually had have confidence since then.”
Following a similar path in performances, Munoz is also starting to see her labor bear fruit. The one-time LPGA winner has also espoused a positive attitude despite her results not matching her outlook.
“It's funny because I've been really working on my attitude, but the results haven't really showed, even though I've been doing so much better,” Munoz told the media. “But I just -- I know I need to keep believing in myself."
While nobody went too low in Rancho Mirage, California on the opening day of the first women's Major of the season, a total of 39 players ended it in red, sub-par figures. 
Former Women's British Open champion Catriona Matthew from North Berwick leads a trio tied third at 4 under, while several big names lurk a tiny further back.
Lexi Thompson and Ha Na Jang (3 under) and Lydia Ko, Inbee Park and Michelle Wie (2 under) all find themselves within a few of the lead.
Hannah O'Sullivan's 72 marked the best among the amateur contingent on Thursday. Leona Maguire, No 1 in the Women's Amateur Rankings, had a 75.

Dame Laura Davies believes Lydia Ko will be pushed to match the achievements of the legendary Annika Sorenstam despite the "incredible" start to her career.

Ko has already won 11 LPGA Tour titles at the age of 18 despite the presence of consistently strong fields, including a vast South Korean contingent led by current world No 2 and seven-time major champion Inbee Park.
The teenage superstar is favourite to land her second straight major at this week's ANA Inspiration in California, where she opened with a solid two-under 70 to lie just three off the early pace.

Lydia Ko has already won 11 LPGA Tour titles before her 19th birthday

"This (tournament) is one of the biggest events of the year for the ladies, and it's basically our version of The Masters," Davies told Sky Sports. "It's at the same course every year, and it's a great place. As soon as you get through the gates, you feel the atmosphere, see the set up and you know it's a major.
"It's such a top course. You get very long rough which you don't have every week, and it's a course where the better players will win. You cannot get away with playing average golf, you've got to be on top of your game, and that's why I'd pick Lydia Ko to win.
"Hopefully Charley Hull will have a good run, and Inbee Park finished second last week so I wouldn't be surprised to see her and Lydia fighting out another tournament.
"Lydia is just incredible. To put her achievements into perspective, I won 20 LPGA Tour events over 28 years, and she's already won 11 in three years and she's still only 18. A winning rate of four per year is extraordinary, and it's so tough to be that consistent because every week sees a strong field.

       Annika Sorenstam won a remarkable 93 professional titles, including 10 majors

"The prospect of her keeping that up should be a little unrealistic, and I thought it would be impossible to match what Annika Sorenstam achieved in her career. But the way Lydia has started out, she's on pace to keep up with Annika. Time will tell if she can keep this going, and if she can, it will be astounding.
"She just doesn't hit any bad shots, and if she does miss the odd green, she gets up and down most of the time because her short game is so good. She literally has no weaknesses."

Live LPGA Tour Golf

April 1, 2016, 5:00pm

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Scroll down past this new picture of Catriona Matthew to view all the first-round scores

       Catriona in Matthew in action in California yesterday - picture by Joyce Hunnam.

 ALL THE FIRST-ROUND SCORES
  Par 72

T1	Ai Miyazato	67
T1	Azahara Munoz	67
T3	Shiho Oyama	68
T3	Lee-Anne Pace	68
T3	Catriona Matthew	68
T6	Ariya Jutanugarn	69
T6	Gerina Piller	69	.
T6	Amy Yang	69
T6	In Gee Chun	69
T6	Ha Na Jang	69
T6	Lexi Thompson	69
T6	Mi Hyang Lee	69
T6	Ryann O'Toole	69
T14	Caroline Masson	70
T14	Michelle Wie	70
T14	I.K. Kim	70	.
T14	Lydia Ko	70
T14	Na Yeon Choi	70
T14	Charley Hull	70
T14	Kelly Tan	70
T14	Jennifer Song	70
T14	Inbee Park	70
T14	Alena Sharp	70
T24	Juli Inkster	71
T24	Mika Miyazato	71
T24	Hyo-Joo Kim	71
T24	Minjee Lee	71
T24	Suzann Pettersen	71	.
T24	Kris Tamulis	71
T24	Ayako Uehara	71
T24	Sung Hyun Park	71
T24	Candie Kung	71
T24	Lizette Salas	71
T24	Karine Icher	71
T24	Shanshan Feng	71
T24	Xiyu Lin	71
T24	Paula Reto	71
T24	Simin Feng	71
T24	Pernilla Lindberg	71	.
T40	Jodi Ewart Shadoff	72
T40	Caroline Hedwall	72
T40	Hannah O'Sullivan (am)	72
T40	Sandra Gal	72
T40	Karrie Webb	72
T40	Anna Nordqvist	72
T40	Austin Ernst	72
T40	Paula Creamer	72
T40	Carlota Ciganda	72
T40	Cydney Clanton	72	.
T40	Moriya Jutanugarn	72
T40	Christina Kim	72
T40	Hee Young Park	72
T40	Danielle Kang	72
T40	Jenny Shin	72
T40	Stacy Lewis	72
T40	Alison Lee	72
T40	Brittany Lincicome	72
T40	So Yeon Ryu	72
T40	Sun Young Yoo	72
T60	Jacqui Concolino	73
T60	Wei-Ling Hsu	73
T60	Bo-Mee Lee	73
T60	Jessica Korda	73
T60	Brooke M Henderson	73
T60	Sei-Young Kim	73
T60	Jin Young Ko	73
T60	Annie Park	73
T60	Albane Valenzuela	73
T60	M.J. Hur	73
T60	Jennifer Johnson	73
T60	Mo Martin	73
T60	Bronte Law (am)	73
T60	Beatriz Recari	73
T60	Mirim Lee	73
T60	Q Baek	73
T76	Thidapa Suwannapura	74
T76	Jaye Marie Green	74
T76	Chella Choi	74
T76	Jane Park	74
T76	Kelly Shon	74
T76	Ilhee Lee	74
T76	Brittany Lang	74
T76	Angela Stanford	74
T76	Melissa Reid	74
T76	P.K. Kongkraphan	74
T76	Julie Yang	74
T76	Min Seo Kwak	74
T88	Megan Khang	75
T88	Maria McBride	75
T88	Eun-Hee Ji	75
T88	Sakura Yokomine	75
T88	Leona Maguire (am)	75
T88	Cristie Kerr	75	.
T88	Yani Tseng	75
T88	Marina Alex	75
T96	Gaby Lopez	76
T96	Haru Nomura	76
T96	Karen Chung	76
T96	Min Lee	76	.
T96	Christel Boeljon	76
T96	Stephanie Meadow	76
T96	Julieta Granada	76
T96	Sierra Brooks	76
T96	Kim Kaufman	76
T96	Pornanong Phatlum	76	.
T96	Morgan Pressel	76
T96	Andrea Lee	76
T108	Gwladys Nocera	77
T108	Tiffany Joh	77
T108	Mariajo Uribe	77
T108	Sydnee Michaels	77