Lydia Ko tied Annika Sorenstam 's LPGA Tour record with her 29th consecutive round under par , shooting a 1-under 71 on Thursday at the ANA Inspiration . The 17-year-old Ko saved par on the par-4 seventh - her 16th hole - after hitting an approach shot through a gap in the trees . She hit a 6-iron to 18 inches to set up a birdie on the 158-yard , par-3 eighth and closed with a par on the par-5 ninth . The top-ranked New Zealander started the streak in the first round of her victory in the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship last year . Her worldwide streak is 32 , counting the three rounds she played in her victory in the Ladies European Tour 's New Zealand Women 's Open this year . Teenage sensation Lydia Ko acknowledges the crowd after finishing the first round at the ANA Inspiration . The 17-year-old equalled former world No 1 Annika Sorenstam 's record of 29 under par rounds in a row . The New Zealand world No 1 tees off at the par 3 eighth hole at the event in California . Sorenstam set the LPGA Tour mark in 2004 . Ko also won the Women 's Australian Open winner in February the week before her New Zealand victory , she was a stroke behind leaders Charley Hull , Na Yeon Choi and Austin Ernst halfway through the first round in the first major championship of the season . Opening in strong morning wind at tree-lined Mission Hills , Ko made a 14-foot birdie putt on her first hole and got to 2 under with an 8-footer on the 12th . She bogeyed the par-4 13th , hitting into the front right bunker and leaving herself a 25-foot par putt . After playing partner Lexi Thompson hit into the water in front of the green on the 133-yard 14th with the wind gusting to 25-30 mph , Ko hit pin-high to the right and made the 15-footer for birdie . Former world No 1 Sorenstam set her LPGA tour record of consecutive rounds under par in 2004 . Defending champion Lexi Thomas could only manage a round of 72 on her opener . Ko bogeyed three of the next four holes to make the turn at 1 over . Playing into a right-to-left crosswind on the par-4 15th , she drove into the front of the left fairway bunker . Close to the lip of the bunker , she chipped 30 yards to the fairway and hit her third to 35 feet . On the par-4 16th , she drove to the left , with the ball stopping in rough on the front edge of a bunker . Her fairway wood with the ball below her feet ended up short of the green in the left rough and she hit her third to 20 feet . Michelle Wie watches on after making a shot on the 12th of the Mission Hills tournament . The US superstar dropped two shots on the final hole to card a 72 for her first round . She was fortunate to only drop one shot on the par-5 18th . After driving into the right rough , hitting a fairway wood into the left rough , and sending her third through the green , Ko hit a flop shot that ticked a palm tree and stopped in the fringe , leaving a steep downhill putt that raced 15 feet past . She made the putt for a bogey save . Ko got back to even par on the par-5 second , hitting a chip to a foot . She also chipped to a foot on the par-3 fifth after missing the green to the left . Thompson , the defending champion , had a 72 . Michelle Wie , second last year , had a double bogey on No . 18 in a 73 .
Lydia Ko posted a round of 2004 in first round of the ANA Inspiration . The 17-year-old equalled Annika Sorenstam 's LPGA record of 29 successive rounds under par . Michelle Wie stumbled with a double bogey at the 18th for a score of 73 .