LPGA Q School - Oyama Leads, Wie on Way With 69.

90 grueling holes for 20 coveted spots is the MO for LPGA Q School at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, FL. It's a personified pressure cooker as women golfers try to attain life long dreams or keep an existing dream going. The down side of 90 holes is the endurance required. The upside is you could have an iffy round and still survive. One iffy round, not two.

Shiho Oyama and Mika Miyazato, an amateur, started their rounds on fire with front side 31s. Oyama took the first 18 hole lead with a scorching 64. Miyazato was two behind in solo second with a 66. Both of their rounds were carded on the statistically easier Champions course, one of two being used in the event. Mollie Fankhauser and Amy Yang shared joint 3rd with 67s. Jeehae Lee held 4th place alone with a 68 and Audra Burks, Stacy Lewis and Michelle Wie split 6th place with 69s, Wie's coming on the narrower, more difficult Legends course. Full 1st round scores.

The 1st round can't win you one of these things, but it can lose it for you. LPGA veterans Vicki Goetze-Ackerman and A.J. Eathorne found this out with 1st day +4, 76s. Naree Song struggled to a 75 and Patricia Meunier-Lebouc trod perilous ground with an opening 74.

The first three rounds figure to be positioning for the last two days on the weekend. Think of it as a horse race with five turns. Stay tuned. Pure excitement and butterflies in the stomach are hallmarks of Q School.

Til' next,