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Wie West, who was out of action while on
maternity leave and recovering from a wrist injury, fired a
two-under-par 70 at the ANA Inspiration to sit four shots off
the early first-round lead at Mission Hills Country Club.
"I am just happy to see my name on the first page of the
leaderboard," said Wie West. "That's really special to me. Been
a long time since I've seen that."
For Wie West, who has been playing Mission Hills since 2003 when
she was a 13-year-old amateur, it was a remarkable turnaround
considering she missed the cut last week in the first event of
her comeback.
Wie West made a bogey on her first hole, but got back to even
par when she nearly aced the par-three 14th. She made three
consecutive birdies after the turn but dropped a shot at the
par-four sixth.
"Especially after last week, it was really good to see those
putts roll in," said Wie West, who counts the 2014 U.S. Women's
Open among her five LPGA Tour wins.
"Put myself in some interesting spots today, but really proud of
how I grinded it out out there."
Wie West still has plenty of work ahead if she is to secure an
improbable victory this week and make the winner's traditional
leap into Poppie's Pond.
But it was a remarkable first step that even Wie West likely did
not think was possible 21 months ago when she broke down and
walked away from reporters while discussing her playing future
in what was the final event before her break.
"It was fun today making putts out here. I have a lot of great
memories, my first one being 18 years ago," said Wie West.
"This place is really special to me and I'm just glad to be
here."
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Ed Osmond)
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