A day of surprises: Longshots sitting atop leaderboard

Pernilla Lindberg pumps her fist after making a birdie on the 18th hole. She has a two-shot lead. THE BLADE/DAVE ZAPOTOSKY Enlarge | Buy This Photo

The first-round leaderboard at the 27th Jamie Farr Toledo Classic at Highland Meadows Golf Club is not exactly your typical who's who. In fact, it could be described as a who's that?

Take leader Pernilla Lindberg -- who shot a 7-under-par 64 during Thursday's morning round -- for instance.

In her third year as an LPGA player, Lindberg's career tour earnings ($143,006) are less than the first-place prize money ($195,000) for the Farr Classic. In her 10 prior tour events this season, the Swedish native has missed the cut six times, and her only finish above 43rd place was a tie for 12th.

Thursday, however, Lindberg caught fire with her putter, scoring eight birdies to more than offset a lone bogey on the 13th hole.

Six players are tied for second place two shots back with rounds of 66, including Americans Angela Stanford and Meredith Duncan, rookie Numa Gulyanamitta of Thailand, Karine Icher of France, Mika Miyazato of Japan, and Chella Choi of South Korea.

"It was really my putting that was the key today," Lindberg said. "I, obviously, put myself in good [mental] positions to make those putts. But it felt like every putt I hit all day had a chance to go in. So, even the pars I made out there, they were still good birdie chances."

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How hot was Lindberg's putter?

She made a 50-foot putt for birdie on No. 5, a 40-footer on No. 14, and 25-footers for birdies at Nos. 4, 12, and 18.

"My putting has gotten a lot better over the last two years," Lindberg said. "I switched to a belly putter two years ago, and it's been helping my game a lot. I would say the putting is the most consistent part of my game now.

"Even a bad day on the greens is really never that bad. Then when I can get really hot on the green, like today, that's when I can shoot the really low scores."

Lindberg's career credentials actually outweigh some of the players tied for second.

Duncan, who joined the tour in 2004, has made only two top-10 finishes in a career that has netted her just $270,490.

Prior to this week, Duncan played eight LPGA events this year, missing the cut in seven of those and exiting the other via disqualification. See has yet to win a single tournament dollar this year.

Duncan has been plagued for several years by back problems, but she was in good enough physical condition Thursday to card birdies on holes 2, 3, 7, 8, 17, and 18.

Miyazato, a fourth-year tour player, is also winless in her career, but has won $584,729 this year and more than $2 million as a pro. She played bogey-free golf and posted birdies at Nos. 1, 5, 10, 16, and 17.

"I played today more aggressive because the greens are very soft," Miyazato said.

The afternoon round brought four more rounds of 66, as Stanford, Choi, Icher, and Gulyanamitta, a rookie from Purdue University, all got to 5-under despite playing through stretches of heavy rains.

Of the top seven players on the leaderboard, only Stanford has ever won an LPGA event. She has won five tournaments, including this year's HSBC Women's Champions event in February. That victory accounted for $210,000 of Stanford's $366,152 total earnings in 2012.

"I drove the ball better, and I was putting a lot better," Stanford said. "I think any time you give yourself a chance from the fairway you're probably going to have more opportunities for birdie.

"I got comfortable on the greens early, and I was rolling it a lot better than I have been."

Although Icher is still searching for her first LPGA win, she does have 22 career top-10 finishes. Might this week bring her first victory?

"Maybe," Icher said. "Why not? My game is good. I have to keep my putting that way, and we'll see on Sunday."

Icher had six birdies to go with one bogey.

"I love this course because we have a lot of opportunities to make some birdies," she said. "It's fun to play here. Good greens, good set-up. I had really good putting, and that helps to make birdies. I hope to do the same thing [today].

"On my front nine I made three birdies in a row [at 16-18], and that gave me confidence for the rest of the course."

Gulyanamitta has yet to achieve a top-10 finish in 11 LPGA events. She has netted $52,889 since concluding her collegiate career.

"Starting off the back nine I started rolling the ball good," Gulyanamitta said. "I started making putts and hitting the ball closer. I chipped it in [for birdie] on 9, and that's when it started going up.

"I holed one long putt. Other than that it was short putts all day long."

Six players are tied three shots off the lead at 4-under, a group that includes Jenny Shin, Amy Young, Gerina Piller, So Yeon Ryo, and Ayaka Kaneko, who all played the morning round, and Ilhee Lee, who played in the afternoon.

The 17-player group tied for 14th at 3-under includes 2012 LPGA money leader and Toledo native Stacy Lewis and 2008 Farr Classic champion Paula Creamer.

Contact Steve Junga at: sjunga@theblade.com 419-724-6461, or on Twitter @JungaBlade