ALBANY, New York, June 2, 2017 - Mia Piccio (Bacolod, Philippines) closed her first round with four straight birdies to post a 5-under, 66 to lead the Fuccillo Kia Classic of NY. Piccio takes a one stroke lead over a trio of players - Elizabeth Tong (Toronto, Canada), Hannah Green (Perth, Australia) and New Yorker Nannette Hill (Pelham Manor) - who stand at 4-under, 67. Nanna Koerstz Madsen (Copenhagen, Denmark) is in fifth place at 3-under, 68.
Conditions in the early morning were fairly calm, but the wind picked up as the day progressed and peaked at approximately 20 miles-per-hour. Scoring suffered a bit as 28 players - of 144 total - finished under-par.
Piccio, who has never won on the Epson Tour, started steady with six pars before making bogey on the par-3 seventh. She quickly erased the bogey with a birdie on the eighth and made the turn at even-par.
Piccio made birdie on the 11th and then finished with a flurry of birdies from 15 through 18. She stuck it close on 15 and 16 and made two long putts coming in.
“I haven’t contended in awhile so it definitely feels great to be up there (on the leaderboard),” said the 25-year-old Piccio. “I was playing solid all day and then I birdied the last four holes and that kind of made my day.”
Piccio made nearly 60 feet worth of putts on the final two holes.
The former Florida Gators golfer missed the cut in her last two starts and during the two-week break, she visited her coach at IMG Academy, Kevin Collins, and also saw the team at Vision54 in Arizona.
“I had a putting lesson in Florida and I feel like the putter is working well,” explained Piccio. “I was talking to my pro-am group yesterday and I was telling them that this is the best I’ve felt in the last three years. I just haven’t had the scores yet, but I’ve been playing well.”
Piccio has just one career top 10 finish during her three years on the Epson Tour. Interestingly enough, the top 10 was at the 2015 Fuccillo Kia Championship when she finished in a tie for ninth.
The 5-under is a season low for Piccio and just her second under-par round of the season (14 rounds).
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