CLIFTON, N.J. - Helen Alfredsson's hat promoting Scandinavian sportswear company "Peak Performance" perfectly encapsulated her opening round at the 2009 Sybase Classic presented by ShopRite.
Alfredsson picked up nine birdies and an eagle on her way to a career best score of 62, which is the lowest in the tournament's 20-year history.
The cool breeze and sporadic rainfall that could be felt throughout the day at Upper Montclair Country Club didn't seem to bother Alfredsson and a host of other players who shot rounds in the 60s.
Starting her day on the back nine, Alfredsson quickly established her standing on the leader board with an eagle from just under 70 yards out on the 461-yard par-5 11th and used the resulting momentum to record birdies on 12, 13 and 14.
"I felt really comfortable all day, and I had a good game plan," said Alfreddson, who served as the European Solheim Cup Captain in 2007. "It was very clear in my head, and I ended up hitting the shots the way I wanted."
In order to concentrate on her Solheim Cup captaincy and have a herniated disc repaired, Alfreddson competed in only 11 events in 2007, the last of which was the Sybase Classic. That was the first year the tournament was played at Upper Montclair.
A much healthier Alfreddson returned to the LPGA Tour in 2008 and enjoyed one of the best and most unexpected season's of her career, winning twice including the prestigious Evian Masters. She was also a serious contender at the 2008 U.S. Open at Interlachen, finishing runner-up to champion Inbee Park.
Three-time defending Sybase Classic champion Lorena Ochoa opened with a score of 71, leaving her nine shots off the pace with plenty of work to do if she hopes to make it four in a row.
Winner of April's Kraft Nabisco Championship, Brittany Lincicome, surprised herself with an 8-under 64 on the heels of an unsatisfactory week at Kingsmill.
"Last week I could not make a putt to save my life," Lincicome said. "I played Tuesday off-site, and I didn't do anything right, as hard as I was trying. And then I played yesterday here, made a few birdies and just kind of went out today just trying to keep it in the fairway."
Her turnaround could be attributed to some good Garden State karma.
On her way to the off-site Pro-Am Tuesday, Lincicome could only smile when she arrived at Hamilton Farm Golf Club, which is less than an hour southwest of Upper Montclair. In she won the 2006 LPGA HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship at the very same golf course.
"I didn't realize until I read the directions on Tuesday morning on the way there, and my dad and I were like wow, that's familiar, and we get there, and it was pretty funny," Lincicome said. "It was really cool to go back, and it brought back a lot of memories, so good vibes going into this week."
In contrast to Alfredsson and Lincicome, Norway's Suzann Pettersen isn't lacking for confidence at the moment. Already with four top 10 finishes in 2009, Pettersen is looking to breakthrough this week.
"My game feels really good," she said. "It's about going out there and using it. Last week I felt very good with my game, just mentally I wasn't in the tournament. Kind of disappointing when you feel very good with kind of the technique and how you're striking it and not to be able to kind of to execute it when you really want it.
"But all I can do is keep grinding, and this week I've had some great practice, and of course, the more often you're in that situation on Sunday, the more likely you're going to pull it off."
Three young South Korean-born players can be found on the first page of the leader board, with Ji Young Oh, Hee Young Park and In-Kyung Kim recording rounds of 66, 67 and 68 respectively.
Oh aced the 145-yard par-3 8th for the first hole-in-one of her career. The superb shot wasn't met with much excitement though, as a large crowd amassed in the vacinity had their backs turned to the shot, instead watching the group containing Michelle Wie putt out on the 16th green, which is parallel to the 8th.
Wie had an up-and-down day, balancing a lack of accuracy off the tee with some spectacular short iron approach shots on her final nine. Despite missing a short birdie putt on the par-5 18th that would've been a positive way to end the day, Wie is in contention at 2-under.
I.K. Kim, who played in Wie's group Thursday, outplayed the phenom for the majority of the morning and early afternoon, displaying a knack for finding the fairway and setting herself up for makeable birdie putts, finished with a first round 68. With her steady play, Kim quickly gained fans from the healthy group shuffling from hole-to-hole to watch the famous teenager.
Brittany Lang (4-under) leads a group of talented young American players who started well at the Sybase Classic. That group includes Paula Creamer, Natalie Gulbis, Stacy Lewis, and Mollie Fankhauser, each shooting 2-under-par rounds of 70.
For complete first round results, visit www.sybaseclassic.com or www.lpga.com.