Janice Moodie birdied six of her last seven
holes en route to an eight-under 64 and the lead after the first round of the
Navistar LPGA Classic.
Alexis Thompson, a 14-year-old amateur, is alone in second place at minus-
seven.
Women's world No. 1 Lorena Ochoa and Michelle Wie share third at six-under 66.
They were joined there by Karine Icher.
Moodie started on the back nine of the Senator Course at Capitol Hill Golf
Club. She rolled in a 15-foot birdie effort on the 12th to get her round
going.
The 36-year-old moved to minus-two with a kick-in birdie on the par-five 17th.
She parred three in a row around the turn before catching fire.
Moodie sank a 10-footer for birdie on No. 3 and made it two in a row with a
six-foot birdie putt on four. After a par on the fifth, she dropped her
approach within a foot on the sixth and tapped in for birdie.
Trailing by two, Moodie roared by Thompson with three more birdies to close
her round.
Moodie, a two-time winner on the LPGA Tour, ran home a 25-footer at the
seventh, then got up and down for birdie at eight. She closed her round with a
four-foot birdie putt on the ninth, her last to lead by one.
"I think I was more thinking about how the golf course has dried out compared
to making the birdies," admitted Moodie, who leads after one round for the
fifth time in her LPGA Tour career. "I didn't hit very many stray shots, but I
hit a couple out there. My head was just moving a little bit. My caddie said
'Just keep your head still.' That was my whole focus on the back nine, and
that seemed to work."
Thompson, who also started on the back nine, converted an eight-footer for
birdie on 10 and made it two straight with a four-foot birdie putt on 11.
The 14-year-old, who won the 2008 U.S. Girls' Junior Golf Championship,
birdied the 15th from 10 feet out, but gave that stroke back with a bogey on
No. 18.
Thompson birdied the second from three feet, then kicked in a birdie on four
to move to minus-four. She made it two straight with a 15-foot birdie putt on
five, then sank back-to-back six-foot birdie putts on seven and eight to get
to seven-under.
"Everything was working for me," Thompson admitted. "My ball striking was
good. My driver was a little off, but I'm not going to complain. I rolled my
putter really good too."
Ochoa, the defending champion, had three birdies on both nines en route to a
bogey-free round.
Wie birdied four holes on the back nine, her opening nine, then posted a
bogey, a birdie and an eagle on the front nine to share third.
Pat Hurst opened with a five-under 67 and was joined in sixth place by Lisa
Strom, Katherine Hull, Inbee Park, Alena Sharp, Meaghan Francella, Sung Ah
Yim, Na Yeon Choi, Pornanong Phatlum and Eunjung Yi.
Christina Kim and Brittany Lang are among nine players tied at minus-four.
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