Aditi drops bogeys on second nine to fall to T-34th in LPGA

Indian golfer Aditi Ashok let slip a strong start for a two-under 69 in the opening round that placed her Tied-34th at the Ladies PGA Tour's Volunteers of America Classic here.

She was at the top of the leaderboard at five-under but coming to the fifth hole, her 14th of the day, she ran into rough weather and fell to three bogeys in a row.

Stephanie Meadow, 27, rode on five straight birdies on the front-nine for an eight-under 63 in hot and humid conditions to take the first-round lead. Dori Carter and Amy Olson were tied for second at 65.

Aditi started on the 10th with a bogey but then went on a birdie-firing spree.

She picked up shots on the 11th, 13th, 15th, 16th and 17th and turned in four-under 32. A sixth birdie on the third took her to the top for a while, before she slipped with three bogeys.

Aditi, who finished Tied-8th in Europe last week, has not had a single top-10 finish on the LPGA this season with the Tied-13th in the CP Women's Tournament being her best this season.

Meadow began the birdie run on the par-five second and capped it on the sixth at the Old American Golf Club.

Cheyenne Knight, Ruixin Liu and Moriya Jutanugarn shot 66. Inbee Park, the 2013 and 2015 winner at Las Colinas Country Club, was another stroke back.