Douglas star Sara Byrne has made a bright start in California on day one of the LPGA Q-Series Pre-Qualifying Stage.
Byrne, who won’t turn professional until after next week’s Curtis Cup in Sunningdale, carded a three-under-par around of 69 to share 15th place.
Byrne played her opening round on the Mission Hills Dinah Shore Course where she opened with back to back birdies but coughed up shots on the 3rd and 5th holes.
The Cork woman rallied towards the finish with three successive birdies from the 14th to climb to within two of the early lead.
Byrne will tackle the Arnold Palmer course on Friday.
Lahinch’s Aine Donegan is on one-over in a share of 125th place while Elm Park’s Anna Foster has got work to do from plus three.
The top 125 and ties make the final round cut after 54 holes with the top-80 players progressing to LPGA Q-School.
Scoring HERE