LPGA Tour: Kraft Nabisco Championship First Round

The LPGA Tour is in Rancho Mirage, Calif., for the Kraft Nabisco Championship this week. Two local players had a strong opening round, while another struggled out of the gate on Thursday.

Paula Creamer, an IMG Academies alum, and Manatee County resident Jodi Ewart each carded 3-under par 67s. They're three shots behind first round leader Amy Yang and are tied for fourth with a slew of other golfers.

Bradenton native Jessica Korda didn't fare as well. She posted a 4-over par 76, despite hitting 12 of 18 greens and 9 of 14 fairways. Her poor round was attributed to her putting, where she recorded 32 putts in the first round.

Ewart totaled the same amount of putts as Korda, but hit four more greens en route to her strong start.

Meanwhile, Creamer had one less putt than both Ewart and Korda, but hit the same amount of greens (16 of 18) as Ewart.

Play continues on Friday.

Symetra Tour: Natalia Perez earns Sara Bay Classic exemption

Natalia Perez did more than secure her first-ever IMG Junior Golf Tour victory in the girls 15-18 year old division of the tour’s event March 17-18. Perez also earned an exemption into the sLPGA Symetra Tour’s Sara Bay Classic April 20-22 in southern Manatee County.

Perez fired a two-day total of 5-over par 149 for a nine-shot victory over three players, including Bradenton’s Yvonne Zheng, at The Golf Club at North Hampton in the Jacksonville area.

Zheng entered the event as the points leader for the Symetra Tour exemption, but Perez’ dominant tournament was enough to pip Zheng in the standings.

LPGA Tour: Jodi Ewart continues torrid form

Jodi Ewart practices at Palm-Aire Country Club ahead of the 2012 season. Photo by Grant Jefferies/gjefferies@bradenton.com

If notching her first career top-20 finish on the LPGA Tour last week wasn't enough, Manatee County resident Jodi Ewart topped that feat at this weekend's Kia Classic.

Ewart tied for seventh with a 4-under par 284 total for the 72-hole event.

She earned $45,337 and a berth into the season-ending CME Group Titleholders held in Naples in November.

The top three from each LPGA tournament, not already qualified, earn a place in the Titleholders - formerly an LPGA major championship.

At one point, Ewart was 8-under par for the tournament, but bogeyed four consecutive holes down the stretch to tie for seventh, her first career top 10 finish. It also means she's qualified for the Kraft Nabisco Championship this week, the first major of the 2012 LPGA season.

Her stellar play also vaulted her up the women's world rankings for a second straight week. Ewart cracked the top 300 after surging 142 places forward to No. 248 in the Rolex Rankings released on Monday.

Ewart is now No. 31 on the money list after the past two weeks, meaning she's in good shape to secure her LPGA Tour card for next year without having to return to Q-School.

Symetra Tour: Pairings released for first event

The LPGA's Symetra Tour released its pairings for the first event of the 2012 season in Winter Haven.

Three local players are in the field for the developmental tour event that is one step below the LPGA Tour.

Rachel Connor, Natalie Sheary and Ginger Howard are playing this week's Florida's Natural Charity Classic.

Connor tees off No. 10 at 8:45 a.m. Sheary begins at 1:45 p.m. on the first hole. And Howard starts at 1:55 p.m. off the first hole.

All three reside in Bradenton.

The tournament begins on Friday.

The Symetra Tour's next stop is in southern Manatee County at Sara Bay Country Club. That tournament is scheduled for April 20-22.

LPGA Tour: Kia Classic features several locals

Jodi Ewart, who lives in Manatee County, joins several other locals in this week's LPGA Tour event, scheduled to begin Thursday.

She's in the first group off No. 10 on Thursday, teeing off at 7:15 a.m. Pacific time at the Kia Classic in Carlsbad, Calif.

Also at the tournament is Bradenton native Jessica Korda, who is making her first LPGA Tour start since she won the Women's Australian Open for her first professional victory. Korda is off No. 10, too. She starts at 8:45 a.m. local time.

Former IMG Academies alum Paula Creamer and Victoria Tanco are in the field as well. Creamer plays alongside world No. 1 Yani Tseng, starting at 9:05 a.m. local time off the 10th hole. Tanco starts off the first hole at 1:40 p.m. local time.

The tournament is a final tune-up for the first major of the year, the Kraft Nabisco Championship, that is held next week.

PGA Tour: Policy board approves Q-School changes

The Associated Press is reporting the PGA Tour's policy board has approved the changes to Q-School that will revamp the system for professionals to make it onto golf's top tier in America.

Q-School will still exists, but as a means to the Nationwide Tour, where more qualifiers at season's end on that tour will earn PGA Tour cards.

The AP is reporting the details of the new system are yet to be decided.

To read the full story, click here.

LPGA Tour: Jodi Ewart Moves Up World Rankings Off Top 20 Finish

Jodi Ewart practices at Palm-Aire Country Club before the start of the 2012 season. Grant Jefferies/gjefferies@bradenton.com

Manatee County resident Jodi Ewart made a huge jump in the latest women's world golf rankings.

Ewart vaulted 151 places to No. 351 in the Rolex Rankings on the strength of her top-20 finish at the RR Donnelley LPGA Founders Cup last week.

Ewart tied for 18th with IMG Academies alum Paula Creamer, and earned a check for $17,658. It was her first career top 20 finish on the LPGA Tour, coming in just her fourth event. She missed two cuts in her only tournaments last season, and finished tied for 66th in the Women's Australian Open in early February.

World No. 1 Yani Tseng captured her 14th career LPGA Tour victory with an 18-under par total. Ewart and Creamer finished 11 shots behind Tseng.

Ewart carded four under-par rounds, with her third-round 69 being her lowest of the 72-hole event.