Thompson and McDonald in contention with the first women & # 039; s major of the year

Thompson has found late birdies to move to secondANA Inspiration leaderboard (US unless indicated) -4: A McDonald; -3: L Thompson, J Ko (Kor), J Kim (Kor), L Strom (Swe) Other selected: -2: L Ko (NZ); Level: C Hull (Eng); +1: P Lindberg (Swe), J Ewart Shadoff (Eng); +2: G Hall (Eng)

American Ally McDonald holds a one-shot lead from a group of players including fellow countryman Lexi Thompson after round one of the first women's magnas of the year, the ANA Inspiration.

McDonald birdied all four par-five at Mission Hills Country Club at Rancho Mirage, California to reach four under.

Thompson, who was left in tears when a four-shot penalty cost her the title in 2017, birdied 17 and 18 to become second.

Charley Hull of England is the best placed Briton, equal to the 29th on an equal footing

Countryman Jodi Ewart Shadoff of Hull dropped shots on the opening four holes but found her hit a turbulent round to end on a day when only 28 out of 112 players end up under par.

Thompson & # 39; s boost

Watch Thompson lose after playing the TV again

Thompson won the event in 2014 and wanted to add a second big one in 2017 before a dramatic penalty – to incorrectly mark her ball on a green – cost her the title.

In Thursday's opening round, the world number nine struggled off the tee and found the fairway only seven times out of 14 rides on a trail with a lot of roughness.

"It was a bit of an up-and-down day," said Thompson, who is one of four players in second place out of three.

"I took some great photos and then got rid of some bad ones from the t-shirt. I made some great putts, which is always a big self-confidence booster for me."

Classy Ko keeps it simple

Leader McDonald has never won a major and has only three top 10 finishes on the LPGA Tour.

Lydia Ko, on the other hand, New Zealand finished second, first and third in her last three LPGA starts and again she was in good contact, finding three birdies in a two-under-par round

"I hit the fairway, so hit the green, two putt, that's more," said Ko, who won the event in 2016.

South Korea's world number one Park Sung-hyun is one of them, while title defender Pernilla Lindberg from Sweden fought against a 73 to be left one, a shot better than the American Michelle Wie, who already five was early before he straightened the ship with four straight birds.

Georgia Hall closed her round with a double-bogey seven on the last hole and finished in two, while her fellow English players Bronte Law and Charlotte Thomas are six and seven above par.