Yang gets bounces, momentum

The South Korean got off to a strong start and finished one shot back of the leader.
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
VIENNA -- The greatest challenge of any golfer is maintaining momentum once it's established.
That's been the biggest hurdle for Young-A Yang, one of the top challengers after Friday's first round of the Giant Eagle LPGA Classic at Squaw Creek Country Club.
"The last couple tournaments, I felt like I played most of the holes [well]," she said.
"Then there's one or two holes where I stumble and it changes the momentum."
Out of trouble
For the most part, the 25-year-old Yang, a second-year pro from Korea and the University of Tennessee, avoided the disastrous holes in the first round.
That enabled her to shoot a 5-under-par 67, which left her one shot behind leader Gloria Park.
"Today I started hot, and I felt like I could keep it going," said Yang, who began her round with a birdie on the 375-yard par-4 10th hole.
Built momentum
In fact, Yang birdied three of her first four holes to build momentum in her favor.
Her sixth and final birdie that put her in the lead, on No. 6 (her 15th hole), proved the bounces were on her side.
On the 394-yard par-4 hole, Yang drove into the left rough. She then pulled a 5-iron from 165 yards into a tree, but the ball bounced through and landed on the green for a tap-in birdie.
"I'm comfortable because I just need to worry about myself," said Yang, who's missed cuts in her last three tournaments. "I don't have to worry about missing the cut and all that other stuff."
Yang doesn't seem nervous about her high positioning. She was in a similar situation at the Sybase Classic in May when she held the lead and tied for seventh.
"I did stumble a little bit [there]," she said. "Hopefully I can get away from that this time."
Recovery
The only time she seemed to stumble Friday came on her second nine holes, specifically at No. 2, which she bogeyed after missing a 10-foot par putt.
She talked to her caddie and recovered her game.
"The greens are tricky here because they're sloped," she said. "Some shots have back spin and some don't. I just tried to stay below the pin as much as possible."
Yang takes her carefree attitude into today's second round.
She'll tee off on No. 1 at 12:30 p.m. with Seol-An Jeon and Nancy Harvey.
"I'm mostly pretty calm," Yang said. "I don't get too excited or too down. Maybe that helps."
richesson@vindy.com