Ai Caramba! Miyazato Hot in Phoenix


Ai Mayazato showed why she's one of the best - and most resilient -golfers on the planet Thursday in the opening round of the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup. The $1.5 million, 72-hole tournament - the LPGA Tour's first in two weeks - began Thursday at Wildfire Golf Club in Phoenix.

Mayazato, a 27-year-old with nine LPGA wins, was simply superb out of the gate in Arizona, carding seven birdies and an eagle - on the par-5 15th hole - for a course-record-setting 9-under 63, two strokes better than South Korean Jee Young Lee and three less than Thailand's Pornanong Phatlum, Chinese Taipei's Candie Kung, and Americans Gerina Piller and Brittany Lang.

Mayazato has rebounded nicely from an injury she suffered in a car accident three weeks ago. She was an occupant in a vehicle that crashed en route to the Bangkok airport for the HSBC Women's Champions, forcing her to withdraw because of a whiplash. Another player in the car was Paula Creamer, who despite her aches and pains, finished third in that tournament.

Four players shot 67 at Wildfire Thursday, while another 10 posted 68s, including the winner in Singapore, Stacy Lewis, who's budding to replace Yani Tseng as the world No. 1 in women's golf.

Creamer had a 69, and Tseng, the defending champion in last year's second Founders Cup in 2012, opened with a 2-under 70, the same score posted by Karrie Webb, the tournament's inaugural winner.

For complete scoring, visit http://www.lpgascoring.com/public/Leaderboard.