NAPLES, Fla. — Julieta Granada played near-flawless golf in shooting a 6-under-par 66 on Thursday in the first round of the CME Group Tour Championship, the final stop in the LPGA’s 2014 season.
Granada leads Sandra Gal by two shots after her bogey-free round.
The three players who control their own destiny for Player of the Year and the $1 million bonus in the CME Race to the Globe — Stacy Lewis, Inbee Park and Lydia Ko
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— opened with a 3-under 69 and 1-under 71s, respectively.After cold and windy conditions during the Tuesday and Wednesday pro-ams, the weather warmed and the winds ebbed.
With a $1 million bonus at stake, Lewis said she felt nervous in the early rounds and also sensed the same from Park and Ko.
“I think everybody is thinking about the $1 million, yeah,” Park said.
Well not everybody.
“No, not at all,” Ko said.
Ironically, Granada won a $1 million bonus eight years ago as a rookie at age 20. The LPGA did away with the bonuses after 2008.
Granada said she “wouldn’t take it back” but acknowledged that the money didn’t promise continued and immediate success.
“Life becomes really good,” she said. “You think you can just go relax a little bit. But everybody else out here is still grinding and going at it.”
Lewis, who works with the same trainer as Granada, said it would have been hard if she had won that kind of money at age 20.
“And that was her first win, right?” Lewis said. “Expectations go up after that first win. Add a million bucks to it and it’s a really hard situation to be in. I’m glad I worked my way up through there.”
Granada has worked her way up to No. 24 on the Race to the CME Globe and No. 48 in the Rolex Rankings. She has won more than $620,000 this season and has seven top-10 finishes.
She believes Lewis, Park and Ko are well equipped to handle the pressure.
“They’re tough and they’re good players, so they will just keep playing their game,” Granada said.
Gal had a bogey on No. 2 but birdied Nos. 7, 9, 10 and eagled No. 17.
Lewis is tied for third with Caroline Hedwall and Belen Mozo. The LPGA’s top-ranked player had a quiet day at the start with a birdie on No. 6 but then went birdie, bogey, eagle on Nos. 15-17.
“It was better than yesterday, but it’s pretty hard with that much wind,” Lewis said. “I think the first four or five holes are some of the hardest holes on the golf course, so you got to come out firing right away.
“You got some long irons into greens that are not very big. It was playing hard, but then you make the turn and you got some wedges into holes and you can make some birdies.”