Jennifer Kupcho – © LPGA via Twitter

After four consecutive birdies out of the back nine, the American was 8 under at the start of the 15th, which allowed her to approach the record of 10 under par (shared by Lorena Ochoa and Lydia Ko) . But two consecutive bogeys on 15 and 16 forced him to settle for an excellent lap of 66 (-6).

Kupcho singled out one club, the biggest in her bag, as the reason she started out so well.

"I haven't hit my driver particularly well lately, and that's usually my strong point, whereas to stand out you really need to hit the fairways on a big golf course and that was my big strength today », said the 24-year-old from Colorado. “I hit a bunch of fairways, and that really put me in a good position to make my birdies”.

Kupcho said she worked the driving range Wednesday night with her driver after hitting him all over the place during Wednesday's pro-am. This extra work paid off. She hit 11 of 14 fairways with an average drive of 247 yards. This allowed him to post nine birdies in 18 holes.

Kupcho may not be a household name just yet, but she's getting close. She was one of Wake Forest's top amateur players and won the inaugural Augusta National Women's Amateur in 2019. She turned pro and tied for second in a major event later that year at the Evian Championship. She has since reached a high enough level on the LPGA Tour to make the 2021 Solheim Cup USA team.

She performed well at the Solheim Cup, teaming up with Lizette Salas to take two wins and one half in the 15-13 American loss.

Speaking of Salas, Kupcho was paired with Salas on Thursday and will be paired again on Friday. The two developed such a bond at the Solheim Cup that Salas attended Kupcho's wedding.

Kupcho kept repeating the same word about his lap on Thursday, "comfortable."

“Honestly, it's just being comfortable on this course. I come here, I feel comfortable and I like this place, then I play with Lizette, who is a good friend. It was just cozy and great fun”, she said. “It's similar to golf in Colorado and golf in Arizona, which is where I live now. The same type of grass. I felt good on the course. »

While the driver has traditionally been her strong point, her putter has been seen as a weakness, and it is on this club that she has focused during the offseason.

And her putting coach was none other than her husband Jay Monahan (LPGA caddy Jay Monahan, not PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan). Her husband is also this week the caddy of another player, the American Sarah Schmelzel.

Kupcho was on fire with his short game Thursday, needing just 24 putts to go around the course. She birdied 7,62m on 14.

“I worked a lot on my putting. with my husband, who is a great putter, and he knows my game well. So I worked with him a lot in the offseason on my hitting and he's been really good lately”, said the American.

"We're all nervous, but I think it's more about getting used to the nervousness, figuring out how to deal with it and learning different tactics. That's what I've tried to do at the big events I've been to.",

On the French side, two of the three Bleues present this week in California are not far in the wake of the leaders. Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, who is taking part in the event for the first time, distinguished herself on her first leg, scoring four birdies. Despite two bogeys on the return, a fifth and last birdie on the 12 ensured the Varoise a card of 69 (-3). She thus occupies the 10th position tied with five other players, including the American Lexi Thompson.

The introduction also went well for Céline Boutier, who only made one bogey in her day, on the 7th. The Parisian also scored three birdies, including a last one on the famous par 5 of 18 of the Dinah Shore course. With a solid 70 (-2), she is in 16th place, four strokes from the top of the standings.

This day at the Chevron Championship was less favorable for Perrine Delacour, who returned a card of 75 (+3). In 90th position, she nevertheless retains all her chances of crossing the cut, the limit of which is currently at (+1).

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To read our last article on the same subject :

Chevron Championship: The Last at Mission Hills