LPGA TOUR REPORT

Janice Moodie shoots eight birdies

for a 66, Catriona Matthew has 77

It may have taken the Solheim Cup to restore Janice Moodie's self-confidence. The Scot moved on from the transatlantic match to shoot eight birdies in a six-under-par 66 to lay joint fourth at the end of the first round of the LPGA Tour's Safeway Classic at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club, North Plains in Oregon.
The Glasgow-born player birdied the third, fourth, eighth, ninth, 12th, 13th, 15th and 17th in halves of 33. She had bogesya t the 11th or 18th or else she would have been sharing the lead with Beth Bader.
Bader recovered from a bogey at the second to post an early lead of eight-under-par 64 .. and it stayed up there in the pole position all day.
Bader finished a stroke in front of Swedish rookie Anna Nordqvist and Seon Hwa Lee, who each had 65s.
Nordqvist and Lee were a shot in front of a group, including Janice Moodie, who were two shots back of Bader going into Saturday's second round.
Catriona Matthew, perhaps feeling her Solheim Cup exertions more than her fellow-Scot, could do no better than a 77.
Bader's round was her best since 2007. It was her best start to a tournament since the season-opening event in 2003.
"It's nice to get off to a good start," Bader said. "I've had a tendency of not getting off to a very good start and I haven't been able to come back from that."
Defending champion Cristie Kerr had a 69, playing in a star-studded group with Michelle Wie and Lorena Ochoa.
Kerr misplayed a chip shot from the rough on the 18th green to bogey her last hole of the day.
"It was an interesting day," Kerr said. "I hit it pretty bad, pretty poorly."
Ochoa finished with a 70, while Wie birdied the final hole to end with a 68.
Wie, playing a full schedule on the tour for the first time this year, made a putt of some 30 feet for her birdie. She raised her arms and hopped when it dropped.
"It was pretty cool," she said. "And I called it, too. I told my caddie, 'I might chip this in."'
Wie and Kerr were on the U.S. Solheim Cup team which defeated Europe last weekend at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill.
Ten of the team's 12 players were at the Safeway Classic. Paula Creamer withdrew before Friday's first round because of illness.
She said it was a lingering bug she likely caught while playing in the team competition. She missed two tournaments earlier this year because of a stomach ailment.
Fellow teammate Juli Inkster withdrew earlier in the week.
"It was fun out there today," Wie said. "I thought after last week it was going to be anticlimactic, but there were a lot of fans out there and they were really riled up to see us play."
The large galleries from early in the day shrank quickly after Wie's group finished their round. A light rain fell for about an hour, although play was never suspended.
The Safeway Classic was played for the previous 19 years at Columbia Edgewater Country Club near Portland International Airport.
Pumpkin Ridge, which opened in 2009, is made up of the private Witch Hollow course and the public Ghost Greek Course, about a 20-minute drive west of Portland. The club has hosted numerous events, including the 1996 U.S. Amateur, won by Tiger Woods, and the 2003 U.S. Women's Open.
The Safeway Classic was being played on Ghost Creek, a par-72, 6,457-yard course with three straight par-5 holes.
Karrie Webb had a hole in one with a 4-iron on the 184-yard No. 5 hole Friday.
Last year at Columbia Edgewater, Kerr beat Swedes Helen Alfredsson and Sophie Gustafson with a 15-foot birdie putt.
LEADERBOARD
Par 72
64 Beth Bader.
65 Anna Nordqvist, Seon Hwa Lee.
66 Janice Moodie, Angela Stanford, Stacy Prammanasudh, Candie King.
Selected scores:
68 Michele Wie.
71 Laura Davies.
73 Johanna Mundy.
77 Catriona Matthew.