By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
Shin Ji-yai's bid to win both the player of the year and rookie of the year awards is going strong as she was two shots off the lead at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational Friday (KST).
The 21-year-old shot a five-under 67, putting her in a tie for second with Mariajo Uribe of Colombia and Paula Creamer of the United States. Meanwhile, South Korean Kim Song-hee took the first round lead with a seven-under 65 at the tournament in Guadalajara, Mexico.
World No. 1 and host Lorena Ochoa, who is locked in battle with Shin to be the LPGA's best golfer, managed a 1-under 71, finishing the day in a seven-way tie for 13th place.
The South Korean has a slight edge over the Mexican in points ― 147 to 143 ― with one more tournament remaining, next week's LPGA Tour Championship in Houston.
If Shin ― who has already clinched the rookie of the year award over American Michelle Wie and is the Tour's money leader ― wins the tournament and Ochoa finishes eighth or lower, she will be the first golfer to win both awards in the same season since Hall of Famer Nancy Lopez of the United States did so in 1978.
She would be the first Asian to win the player of the year award.
Shin was undaunted despite being on Ochoa's home course. She was dead-on with her driver, not missing a single fairway.
She birdied four of the first six holes to move up the leaderboard. Her first lapse on the front nine came didn't come until the eighth hole, where she bogeyed the par-3 hole.
Shin, a three-time Tour event winner in 2009, came back with a birdie putt on the par-5 10th and added two more birdies at the 12th and 13th before bogeying the 16th.
"I played very well today. I still have jetlag, but I made birdie on the first hole, and I maintained that good feeling for 18 holes. So I played really well today,'' said Shin, who played at the Mizuno Classic in Japan last week and tied for fifth.
"I made four birdies on the first six holes, so for front nine, I was really surprised. I made a bogey on the 8th, but I think I was still 3-under par, so I kept going and made another birdie.
"I was happy to hit driver well today, so my confidence is good. I just want to just carry this feeling."
Meanwhile, Kim, a three-year pro, carded a bogey-free round to get to 65.
"I was very relaxed because I just came from Japan. I'm still very tired from the time change, so I was trying not to play too hard today. I just wanted to play easy,'' said Kim, who has notched 10 top-10 finishes without a victory this season.
"I had a lot of chances this year. But I think I didn't have luck, so that's why I think I lost the (chances) for wins. I think if I play well, I feel pretty good for this week.''
U.S. Women's Open champion Ji Eun-hee tied with Scottish Catriona Matthew for fifth at 68.