CORNING, N.Y. – Hee Young Park knows firsthand that practice isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be.
After spraying balls all around the driving range on Thursday prior to the opening round of the LPGA Corning Classic, Hee matched her career low with an 8-under 64 for a share of the lead with Karine Icher of France, who also tied her best round as a pro.
Tied just one shot back were Minea Blomqvist of Finland, Sandra Gal of Germany, and South Koreans Sarah Lee, Soo-Yun Kang, and Hee-Won Han as nearly half of the extended field of 147 that started broke par on a sun-splashed day.
Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel, Nicole Castrale, Sarah Kemp of Australia, and Jimin Jeong and Na Yeon Choi of South Korea were at 6 under.
Jennifer Rosales, coming off a 58th place finish in last week’s Sybase Classic, fired four birdies against two bogeys to finish with a 70 for a share of 34th place.
Fil-Am Dorothy Delasin, who missed the cut last week, matched par 72 and stood in joint 72nd, needing to shoot in the 60s to advance in the face of the field’s torrid scoring. – With AP reports