Chinese-born Feng leads State Farm LPGA Classic

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois -- Shanshan Feng made five early birdies and shot an 8-under 64, taking a one-stroke lead over Juli Inkster and Na Yeon Choi after the first round of the State Farm LPGA Classic.
Meena Lee, Alena Sharp, Anna Nordqvist, M.J. Hur and Song-Hee Kim were two shots back on a crowded leaderboard at Panther Creek Country Club. Seven other players were within three shots of the lead, including Cristie Kerr and Sophie Gustafson.
Feng's round was so clean, her only near-blemish came on the 410-yard, par-4 18th, when she had a poor stance on her second shot. She was forced to pitch out, knocked a three-quarter pitching wedge to eight feet and made a sidehill putt with a deft touch to save par.
"Leading after the first round doesn't mean you're going to win the tournament," Feng said. "It's just the first round. If this was Sunday, I'd be watching every group finish."
The only Chinese-born player on the LPGA Tour made several lengthy putts during her bogey-free round, although her pro-am playing partners from a day earlier might have been wondering what was going on.
"I'm still a little sorry from yesterday because I didn't make too many putts yesterday in the pro-am," Feng said. "I made some today."
Inkster was 2 over through six holes after a four-putt double bogey on No. 3 when she finally started to make some putts of her own. Six holes later, Inkster was suddenly at 4 under.
"I've four-putted on the way to 75 but never to a 65," Inkster said. "I can't remember the last time I had six (birdies) in a row. I can't remember when I've had five in a row."
Choi's round was similar to Feng's in that she did most of her damage on the front side, with five birdies before the turn, but she missed chances on three of the four par-5s. Lee was a little more consistent, making several mid-range putts during her round.
"I don't have anything that's memorable because my shots were working very well today," Lee said, pointing out that heavy rains made for soft, welcoming greens. "It was easier to play."
Feng and Song-Hee Kim were in the same group Thursday, accumulating a lot of red numbers together. Kim wasn't sure if two players playing well together always helps.
"Sometimes it does, Sometimes it doesn't," she said. "Today it did."
Another tour veteran, Laura Davies, shot 68 but acknowledged it could have been better.
"All the bogeys were silly. The last one (on No. 9), I hit a lovely 7-iron in, perfect all the way. It comes up short and I couldn't get up and down after I pulled the putt," Davies said. "All the bogies were unnecessary."
Still, Davies believes she's in contention, along with players like Morgan Pressel (68), Michelle Wie (69) and Se Ri Pak (70), who have three rounds to make up ground.
"No one is going to shoot 8 under for four days, so I think 20 under would a good mark," Davies said. "I need to shoot 6 under to get back on course."
FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 72. Yardage 6,746
1 Shanshan Feng 64
T2 Juli Inkster  65
T2 Na Yeon Choi  65
T4 Meena Lee  66
T4 Song-Hee Kim  66
T4 Anna Nordqvist  66
T4 M.J. Hur  66
T4 Alena Sharp  66
T9 Sophie Gustafson  67
T9 Mika Miyazato  67
T9 Cristie Kerr  67
T9 Inbee Park  67
T9 Hee Young Park  67
T9 Jee Young Lee  67
T9 Gwladys Nocera  67
T16 Moira Dunn  68
T16 Lindsey Wright  68
T16 Amy Yang  68
T16 Tanya Dergal  68
T16 Karen Stupples  68
T16 Yani Tseng  68
T16 Laura Davies  68
T16 Sun Young Yoo 68
T16 Morgan Pressel  68
T16 Wendy Ward  68
T16 Jimin Kang  68
T16 Mikaela Parmlid 68
T16 Heather Bowie Young 68
T29 Karin Sjodin  69
T29 Diana D'Alessio  69
T29 Samantha Richdale  69
T29 Silvia Cavalleri 69
T29 Tamie Durdin  69
T29 Karrie Webb  69
T29 Sherri Steinhauer 69
T29 In-Kyung Kim 69
T29 Ji Young Oh  69
T29 Michele Redman  69
T29 Meg Mallon  69
T29 Michelle Wie  69
T29 Kyeong Bae  69
T29 Hee-Won Han 69
T29 Louise Friberg  69
T29 Lisa Meldrum 69
T29 Beth Bader  69
T46 Lee Ann Walker-Cooper  70
T46 Sarah Jane Smith 70
T46 Sarah Kemp 70
T46 Meaghan Francella  70
T46 Chella Choi  70
T46 Mhairi McKay  70
T46 Stephanie Louden  70
T46 Katie Kempter  70
T46 Stacy Lewis  70
T46 Jeong Jang  70
T46 Se Ri Pak  70
T46 Pat Hurst 70
T46 Stacy Prammanasudh  70
T46 Eunjung Yi  70
T46 Karine Icher  70
T46 Rachel Hetherington 70
T46 Mi Hyun Kim  70
T46 Na On Min 70
T46 Ilmi Chung  70
T46 Allison Hanna  70
T46 Sandra Gal  70
T46 Paola Moreno  70
T46 *Candace Schepperle  70
T69 Michelle Ellis 71
T69 Mariajo Uribe 71
T69 Kris Tamulis  71
T69 Liz Janangelo  71
T69 Misun Cho  71
T69 Brittany Lincicome  71
T69 Lorie Kane  71
T69 Catriona Matthew  71
T69 Helen Alfredsson  71
T69 Azahara Munoz  71
T69 Natalie Gulbis  71
T69 Haeji Kang 71
T69 Lisa Strom  71
T69 Gloria Park  71
T69 Shi Hyun Ahn  71
T69 Ashli Bunch 71
T69 Mina Harigae 71
T69 Amy Hung  71
T69 Anna Rawson  71
T88 Iben Tinning 72
T88 Jimin Jeong  72
T88 Nicole Castrale  72
T88 Irene Cho  72
T88 Sarah Lee 72
T88 Soo-Yun Kang  72
T88 Mindy Kim 72
T88 Laura Diaz 72
T88 Amanda Blumenherst 72
T88 Ai Miyazato 72
T88 Candie Kung E F E 72 72
T88 Angela Stanford 72
T88 Seon Hwa Lee  72
T88 Brandie Burton  72
T88 Katherine Hull  72
T88 Beatriz Recari  72
T88 Hye Jung Choi   72
T88 Katie Futcher 72
T88 Janice Moodie 72
T88 Danielle Downey  72
T88 Julieta Granada  72
T109 Jane Park 73
T109 Allison Fouch  73
T109 Teresa Lu 73
T109 Kristy McPherson  73
T109 Eun-Hee Ji 73
T109 Brittany Lang  73
T109 Leah Wigger  73
T109 Louise Stahle 73
T109 Jill McGill 73
T109 Cathryn Bristow  73
T109 Giulia Sergas 73
T109 Joo Mi Kim 73
T109 Becky Morgan  73
T109 Taylor Leon 73
T123 Christina Kim 74
T123 Maria Hernandez 74
T123 Jamie Hullett 74
T123 Young-A Yang 74
T123 Nicole Jeray 74
T123 Anna Grzebien  74
T123 Jin Young Pak 74
T123 Jennifer Rosales 74
T123 Maria Hjorth 74
T123 Leta Lindley  74
T123 Meredith Duncan  74
T123 Dina Ammaccapane  74
T123 Paige Mackenzie 74
T136 Marianne Skarpnord  75
T136 Reilley Rankin 75
T136 Song Yi Choi 75
T136 Kelli Kuehne 75
T136 Christi Cano 75
T141 Jean Reynolds  76
T141 Pernilla Lindberg 76
T143 Yoo Kyeong Kim 77
T143 Jackie Gallagher-Smith  77
T143 Vicky Hurst 77
T143 Dorothy Delasin  77
T147 Ilhee Lee 78
T147 Kris Tschetter 78
149 Minea Blomqvist 81
150 Nicole Hage 83