Inkster among 3 tied for lead in Texas
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Irving, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Juli Inkster carded a 5-under 66 in Thursday's first round and the 54-year-old is among three tied for the lead at the North Texas Shootout.
Inkster, who is the captain of the 2015 U.S. Solheim Cup team, has 31 career wins on the LPGA Tour. She is tied with 17-time winner Cristie Kerr and Sydnee Michaels, seeking her first victory on tour.
There is a logjam atop the leaderboard after round one, with 19 players within two shots of the lead. Lexi Thompson, Angela Stanford, Sandra Gal, Gerina Piller, Wei-Ling Hsu, Alena Sharp, Maria Hernandez, Ryann O'Toole and Natalie Gulbis are all tied for fourth at 4-under 67.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Michelle Wie is one of nine players to shoot a 3-under 68, tying them for 14th at Las Colinas Country Club.
Defending champion Stacy Lewis is one shot further back and tied for 23rd at minus-2.
Inkster, who is looking to become the oldest winner ever on tour, has not won since the 2006 Safeway International. Starting on the back nine, Inkster drained a birdie on No. 10 and later gave that shot back with a bogey on 13.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Following a trio of pars from 14, Inkster made the turn in style with back-to- back birdies on 17 and 18. Inkster made three more pars before going on a run that included three birdies in four holes from No. 4. She finished up with a pair of pars to end at minus-5.
"I've been playing pretty good. I've been trying to slowly by slowly get a little confidence back in my game, and even last week, I didn't play too bad on Friday and Saturday, it was just tough conditions," Inkster said. "You know, hopefully I can build on this and see what happens this weekend."
Kerr, also starting on the back nine, traded a birdie on 10 for a bogey on 11 and she then made another gain two holes later at 13. Kerr made the turn with a bogey on 16 and a birdie on 18, putting her at minus-1 for the day.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kerr did most of her work on the front nine, her back, with two pairs of birdies, first at two and three, and again at seven and eight to join Inkster at 5-under.
"I was just hitting it really good and just giving myself a lot of opportunities, got the momentum on the back nine, which is what I wanted to do, and you know, I even made a couple longer putts today," said Kerr. "I've always been a pretty good putter. Putting has always been kind of my favorite part of the game."
Michaels was the last player to finish at minus-5 and she was the only leader to go bogey-free in her first round. Three birdies over her first five holes had Michaels off and running early.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It was a while in between birdies for Michaels as she made seven straight pars from No. 6. She finished up with gains on 13 and 17 to go along with four pars.
NOTES: At 40 years, six months old and 18 days, Fay Crocker was the oldest player to win on the LPGA Tour in 1955 ... Kerr picked up her 17th career victory earlier this season at the Kia Classic ... Michaels has missed the cut in three of her last four events and her best finish this season was a tie for 13th at the season-opening Coates Golf Championship ... Mi Hyang Lee had a hole-in-one at the par-3 17th.