RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — Officials at Mission Hills Country Club thought the Dinah Shore Tournament Course might play so tough for the ANA Inspiration this week that a winning score in single digits under par for 72 holes would be a reasonable expectation.
Patty Tavatanakit needed just 31 holes to surpass that mark.
Tavatanakit, the 21-year-old Thai golfer who played her college golf at UCLA, defied the course conditions, strengthening winds in the afternoon and temperatures in the mid-90s that caused her to feel tired in the middle of the round to maintain the lead in the LPGA’s first major championship of the year Friday.
She shot a 3-under 69 while other golfers were fighting to stay at or near even par on the day, putting Tavatanakit at 9-under 135, one shot ahead of Sanshan Feng.
ANA Inspiration: Leaderboard | Photos
The key, Tavatanakit said, was to not think about the magnitude of the event.
“I didn’t want to take it like, oh, I’m leading a major championship,” she said. “I just want to look at it like it’s another round, it’s another tournament. Even though it is a big tournament, I don’t want to put emphasis on it like it’s a major.”
Feng, playing in the afternoon, also shot 69 despite three bogeys in her round. Despite playing on what is considered a long hitter’s paradise, where the LPGA’s biggest hitters take advantage of the par-5s, Moriya Jutanugarn managed a 69 in the morning wave of tee times to get to 7-under, alone in third.
Jutanugarn, ranked 131st on the LPGA average driving distance stats at a fraction under 240 yards, fired a 3-under 69 on Friday to move to 7-under for the tournament. She took sole possession of the lead at the first major championship of the year as the morning wave of tee times finished their round. Jutanugarn had four birdies in the round, but just one on a par-5, that being the second hole on the Shore Course.
“It’s just about patient out there,” Jutanugarn said. “I mean, I’m not a long hitter so I just have to take what I can and just trying to play smart and put myself into, you know, like places I can have a good chance.”
Jutaqnugarn, the older sister of Ariya Jutanugarn, is looking for her second LPGA victory and her first major championship. Her sister has 10 wins, including two majors.
Charley Hull, who missed the 2020 event with a positive COVID-19 test, fired a second consecutive 69 to reach 6-under, tied for fourth with Anna Nordqvist.
Other major champions near the lead midway through the event include 2020 ANA Inspiration champion Mirim Lee, 2019 ANA champion Jin Young Ko and 2020 AIG Women’s Open Sophia Popov, making her first start in the Coachella Valley, all at 5-under.
Jutanugarn ended her round moments before Tavatanakit began her second round. Tavatanakit stumbled with a bogey on the 10th hole, her first hole of the day, followed by four pars. But her round changed when she holed a shot from the fairway on the par-4 15th for an eagle from 125 yards, followed by a birdie on the par-4 16th.
She added a two-putt birdie on the par-5 second hole, then rolled in a 30-foot birdie on the fourth hole to get to 10-under. But a pulled drive into thick rough behind trees led to a bogey on the seventh hole.
Tavatanakit admits the afternoon heat started to cause her to feel tired midway through her round, so she started drinking more water. Then she was afraid that she had drank too much water and that she would feel “bloated” in her final nine holes. But some deep breaths helped her focus and keep her momentum in the second half of the round.
Feng, who sat out all of 2020, going home to China instead, is just happy to be back on the course and in contention.
Patty Tavatanakit tees off on the 1st hole during the ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California. (Photo: Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun)
“My plan was to come back and enjoy the whole time that I’m on the course, and now I have two more days that I can enjoy with my team, my boss (her caddie), and also my playing partners in the group,” Feng said. “So I’m very happy about that. Result-wise it doesn’t really matter because I’m very happy about what I’m doing as the first tournament coming back.”
Feng had an up-and-down front nine with four birdies and three bogeys, But she settled in on the back nine with two birdies and seven pars to complete her 69 and maintain the second spot she had after the first round.
“I missed a few fairways on the front, so, I mean, on this course if you’re in the rough and then it’s hard to get the ball onto the green in regulation,” Feng said. “I just missed a few up and downs, but I still think overall I was pretty good. I think I had like six or seven birdies today.”