Ochoa off to fast start with seven-under 64

WILLIAMSBURG, Virginia – Lorena Ochoa picked up where she left off in winning two weeks ago in Mexico with a 7-under 64 which gave her a one-shot lead after the first round of the Michelob Ultra Open on Thursday.

“This is only the start,” said Ochoa, a three-time runner-up in the event. “We have three more days. One at a time.”

Jennifer Rosales blew a fine start with two bogeys in the last four holes, settling for an even-par 72 for a share of 67th place, eight strokes off the pace.

Fil-Am Dorothy Delasin, on the other hand, fumbled with a four-over 76 and is in danger of missing the cut.

Lindsey Wright, a non-winner in five seasons, hadn’t played since finishing fourth in the Kraft Nabisco Championship, the season’s first major in the first week in April, but was bogey-free and a stroke behind on the soggy 6,315-yard River Course at Kingsmill that has received rain for several days.

Hee-Won Han, Sarah Lee and Minea Blomqvist shot 66s to share third place, Seon Hwa Lee, Na Yeon Choi and Amy Yang had 67s and 2007 champion Suzann Pettersen was among seven at 68.

In all, 45 of 144 players took advantage of the soft greens and broke par.

Other notables making a run at the leaderboard included 2005 winner Cristie Kerr, who got to 4 under but then stumbled to finish at 2 under; rookie Vicky Hurst, who got to 4 under but gave two shots back on her last four holes; and another rookie, Michelle Wie, who got to 3 under after her first 12 holes, but had two bogeys coming in to finish six shots back.

The rainy start and sometimes gusting wind seemed to be of little consequence to Ochoa, the world’s top-ranked player. Three of her eight birdie putts were of 17 feet or longer while working on her putting alignment. (AP)