Play was suspended in round one of the ANA Inspiration at 3.16 pm local time in Rancho Mirage, California, on Thursday due to high winds and play was called for the day at 4.00 pm.
Ladies European Tour member Karine Icher from France took the early lead on day one, going out in the morning wave, ahead of the forecasted high winds. She posted a five-under par, 67 to lead by one ahead of Michelle Wie, So Yeon Ryu, Sung Hyun Park and amateur Eun Jeong Seong, who sit in a share of second at four-under par at the season’s first Major.
Icher is a five-time winner on the LET, (2001 Palmerston Ladies German Open, 2001 Mexx Sport Open, 2002 Caja Duero Open de Espana, 2004 Catalonia Ladies Masters, 2005 Catalonia Ladies Masters) and a three-time Solheim Cup player (2002, 2013 and 2015) who is on target to represent Europe for a fourth time under Annika Sorenstam at Des Moines in Iowa in August.
She joined the LPGA Tour in 2003 but is still in the hunt for her first victory on the Tour, where she has posted 43 career top-10 finishes.
“I’m probably the player with the most top 10s without winning, so I’m used to it,” Icher told the media. “I’m going to keep focused and keep my game on and try to sink some putts, and we’ll see from there.
“I played well. It’s a hard golf course. I mean, the rough is so thick, it grew so much since yesterday. No, I’m quite happy about this round and hope to do the same tomorrow. I’m an accurate player, so I just aim for the fairway and then for the green. I try to work on putting to put more putts in. That’s the secret. If you have good putting, you score well.”
Round one will resume Friday morning at 7.30 am local time in California.
