Crowded at the Top of North Texas Shootout


Though Cristie Kerr, Juli Inkster and Sydnee Michaels each fired 5-under 66s to take the 18-hole lead in the North Texas Shootout, another 10 players are just a stroke back in the $1.3 million LPGA Tour event, which began Thursday at Las Colinas Country Club in Irving, Texas.

Kerr carded seven birdies and two bogeys, while Inkster posted six birdies and a bogey. Kerr and Inkster are two of the winningest players currently on the LPGA. Kerr, a 37-year-old Floridian, has 17 career titles, including a victory in late March in the Kia Classic.

The 54-year-old Inkster has been a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame since 2000 thanks to 31 victories, including seven majors.

On the other hand is Michaels, a 26-year-old Californian in search of her first title. The two-time Futures Tour winner enjoyed a spotless scorecard of five birdies on the par-71 Las Colinas layout.

Trailing the illustrious duo by a stroke are Americans Lexi Thompson, Angela Stanford, Gerina Piller, Ryann O'Toole and Natalie Gulbis, France's Karine Icher, Germany's Sandra Gal, Taiwan's Wei-ling Hsu, Canada's Alena Sharp, and Spain's Maria Hernandez.

Stacy Lewis, who won last year's tournament by six strokes, opened with a 69.

Earlier this week, No. 1-ranked Lydia Ko, who won last week's Swinging Skirts Classic in a playoff over Morgan Pressel, announced that she'll donate all of her winnings this week to earthquake relief in Nepal. Ko started out with an uncharacteristic 75.

Canadian teenager, Brooke Henderson, who finished third last week, had a 69 Thursday. Pressel started with a 70.

For all the scores, visit http://www.lpga.com/tournaments/volunteers-of-america-north-texas-shootout/leaderboard.