ANA Inspiration R1

ANA Inspiration 2021 R1
April 01-04
Mission Hills Country Club, Dinah Shore Tournament Course
Rancho Mirage, California
$3,100,000
Round 2, Round 3, Round 4

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Thailand’s Patty Tavatanakit heads a star-studded leader board on the opening day of the 2021 ANA Inspiration after a stunning bogey free six under par 66.

ANA Inspiration 2021 R1

Tavatanakit turned pro shortly after finishing 26^th in the 2019 ANA Inspiration, winning three times on the Symetra Tour that year. Showing a patience that belied her 21 years when asked when she was going to win on the LPGA Tour she commented, “It’s just basically still my rookie year, so there is a lot to learn. Everyone is good out here, so you have to show a lot of respect to the players, too.  I still have to hit good shots. I still have to play smart. Can never get ahead of myself out there, because literally anyone could shoot low numbers and sneak up there really quickly.”

ANA Inspiration 2021 R1

A beneficiary of two ANA Inspiration amateur invites before turning professional, Tavantanakit explained, “Well, this is my fourth time here. It helped playing the course at a really young age, seeing it differently. I feel like I’m hitting it the furthest I’m hitting. I can never reach the green on 9 for the three times I played here and I was able to do it today. I was telling my caddie, Man, I’ve got a little bit of a different game here. I’m hitting it a little further, and if anything a little straighter. My course strategy was better just because I know the course a little better, too.”

ANA Inspiration 2021 R1

One of the greatest characters on the LPGA, Shanshan Feng returned to the LPGA for the first time this week since November 2019. Without a hint of rust, she fired an opening 67 and sharing second place with Ireland’s Leona McGuire. A blemish free round saw China’s Olympic bronze medallist smiling even more broadly than normal, enthusing “I would say that I’m mentally very fresh because this is my first tournament in, I don’t know, 13, 14 months I guess. So I am mentally very fresh and I feel like my body is maybe back to like 25. Not quite 18, but back to maybe like 25, so able to get through the 18. I’m feeling good, yeah.”

ANA Inspiration 2021 R1

Ireland’s Leona McGuire, who finished top 20 at last year’s September event after an impressive final two rounds of 68 and 69, continued where she left off matching Feng’s 67 is tied in second place. Another player who credits their past amateur experience at the ANA Inspiration, she said, “I came here for the first time as an amateur when I was still in college, and it’s just a fun place to be. Great golf course. It’s a really good test. You got to drive the ball well. Hit your irons in the right places. And then there is lots of slopes and subtleties to the greens. They’re rolling really well, so you have to stroke it on a good line. I’ve been playing well the last few weeks. Got off to a really nice start this season, and trying to build on that momentum. It’s nice to come back to a course that I’ve been to before and I did well on last year.

Another player returning to the Tour after a long break was new mom, Michelle Wie, playing her second event in almost two years who impressed with a 2 under 70 in only her second week back playing.

ANA Inspiration 2021 R1

Pos.	Player	To Par	R1
1	Patty Tavatanakit	-6	66
T2	Shanshan Feng *	-5	67
T2	Leona Maguire	-5	67
T4	Moriya Jutanugarn *	-4	68
T4	Ariya Jutanugarn	-4	68
T4	Megan Khang *	-4	68
T4	Anna Nordqvist	-4	68
T8	Georgia Hall	-3	69
T8	Charley Hull	-3	69
T8	Jin Young Ko	-3	69
T8	Jessica Korda	-3	69
T8	Jennifer Kupcho	-3	69
T8	Bronte Law	-3	69
T8	Mirim Lee	-3	69
T8	Yuka Saso *	-3	69
T16	Carlota Ciganda *	-2	70
T16	Dani Holmqvist *	-2	70
T16	Sarah Kemp	-2	70
T16	Christina Kim	-2	70
T16	Cheyenne Knight	-2	70
T16	Lydia Ko *	-2	70
T16	Azahara Munoz *	-2	70
T16	Inbee Park	-2	70
T16	Pornanong Phatlum	-2	70
T16	Gerina Piller	-2	70
T16	Sophia Popov	-2	70
T16	Lexi Thompson *	-2	70
T16	Michelle Wie West *	-2	70
T16	Amy Yang	-2	70
T30	Pajaree Anannarukarn *	-1	71
T30	Nicole Broch Larsen	-1	71
T30	Ally Ewing *	-1	71
T30	Jaye Marie Green	-1	71
T30	Hannah Green *	-1	71
T30	Mi Jung Hur	-1	71
T30	Yui Kawamoto *	-1	71
T30	Nelly Korda *	-1	71
T30	Jeongeun Lee6 *	-1	71
T30	Yu Liu	-1	71
T30	Stephanie Meadow	-1	71
T30	Ryann O’Toole *	-1	71
T30	Sung Hyun Park	-1	71
T30	Mel Reid *	-1	71
T30	Madelene Sagstrom *	-1	71
T30	Sarah Schmelzel *	-1	71
T30	Jenny Shin *	-1	71
T30	Lauren Stephenson *	-1	71
T30	Kelly Tan *	-1	71
T49	Perrine Delacour *	E	72
T49	Jodi Ewart Shadoff	E	72
T49	Kristen Gillman *	E	72
T49	Caroline Inglis	E	72
T49	Eun-Hee Ji *	E	72
T49	Danielle Kang	E	72
T49	Cristie Kerr *	E	72
T49	Hyo Joo Kim *	E	72
T49	Sei Young Kim	E	72
T49	Nanna Koerstz Madsen *	E	72
T49	Brittany Lang	E	72
T49	Minjee Lee *	E	72
T49	Xiyu Lin *	E	72
T49	Pernilla Lindberg	E	72
T49	Gabriela Ruffels (a) *	E	72
T49	So Yeon Ryu *	E	72
T49	Alena Sharp	E	72
T49	Hinako Shibuno *	E	72
T49	Jennifer Song	E	72
T49	Angela Stanford *	E	72
T49	Angel Yin	E	72
T70	Aditi Ashok *	1	73
T70	Ashleigh Buhai *	1	73
T70	In Gee Chun *	1	73
T70	Austin Ernst	1	73
T70	Katherine Kirk	1	73
T70	Aline Krauter (a) *	1	73
T70	Mi Hyang Lee *	1	73
T70	Brittany Lincicome *	1	73
T70	Gaby Lopez	1	73
T70	Caroline Masson	1	73
T70	Amy Olson	1	73
T70	Hee Young Park *	1	73
T70	Maria Torres *	1	73
T70	Ayako Uehara	1	73
T70	Jing Yan *	1	73
T85	Marina Alex *	2	74
T85	Chella Choi	2	74
T85	Cydney Clanton	2	74
T85	Maria Fassi *	2	74
T85	Haru Nomura	2	74
T85	Su Oh	2	74
T85	Robynn Ree *	2	74
T85	Lizette Salas	2	74
T93	Brittany Altomare *	3	75
T93	Celine Boutier *	3	75
T93	Jennifer Chang *	3	75
T93	Nasa Hataoka	3	75
T93	Brooke M. Henderson *	3	75
T93	Tiffany Joh *	3	75
T93	Bianca Pagdanganan	3	75
T93	Linnea Strom	3	75
T93	Jasmine Suwannapura	3	75
T93	Lindsey Weaver	3	75
T103	In Kyung Kim *	4	76
T103	Andrea Lee	4	76
T103	Stacy Lewis	4	76
T103	A Lim Kim	4	76
T103	Yealimi Noh	4	76
T103	Emily Kristine Pedersen	4	76
T103	Marissa Steen *	4	76
T103	Emma Talley	4	76
T111	Jenny Coleman	5	77
T111	Annie Park *	5	77
T111	Morgan Pressel *	5	77
T111	Yani Tseng *	5	77
T111	Albane Valenzuela	5	77
T116	Erika Hara	6	78
T116	Mina Harigae *	6	78
T116	Wei-Ling Hsu	6	78
T116	Jane Park *	6	78
* Player started on the back nine