Amy Yang has the lead at Kraft Nabisco Championship

Yani Tseng isn’t the first-round leader at the Kraft Nabisco Championship, and that is news on the LPGA Tour.

Tseng, the No. 1-ranked female golfer in the world and winner of six of her last 12 tournaments, shot a four-under-par 68 Thursday at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, and so Tseng is in third place, two shots behind leader Amy Yang of South Korea and a shot behind Australian Lindsey Wright.

Until Thursday, Tseng had held at least a share of a tournament lead in her last eight rounds.

Yang, a 22-year-old from South Korea who hasn’t won on the LPGA Tour, shot a 66 that included eight birdies and two bogeys.

Wright, 32, is a former Pepperdine golfer who spoke emotionally about her ongoing battle with clinical depression. As recently as the 2010 British Open, Wright said she was weeping on the green and finding herself feeling alone and isolated.

Wright was smiling Thursday and able to celebrate her ownership of shots of all kinds. But Wright, who described the feeling of traveling the world and competing as a professional athlete as lonely and said she often felt “smothered” by the pressure of competing, said she is sticking to her plan of playing only in spurts this year, win or no win this week.

Wright took off the final four months of last year’s season and found she enjoyed the freedom even if her father made the point that she still needed to find a way to support herself.

For the last 14 months, Wright said, she has been taking medication for her depression and has made her mental health as much a priority as her physical well-being.

Making birdies on five of her final nine holes as she did Thursday might have always left Wright smiling, but now, she said, “I could have shot 80 today and I’d still feel really great. I don’t feel like I’m swimming with weights and dragging around 10 pounds of excess baggage. I sleep better and I’m happier.”

Tseng, who has won two tournaments in a row, including the Kia Classic last Sunday at La Costa, might be the only golfer on the tour who could describe her opening round that included six birdies as disappointing.

“I didn’t hit many good shots,” Tseng said. “I’m kind of upset because I didn’t have good distance. I didn’t have many birdie chances. But you can still see my name on the first page of the leaderboard, so I’m happy that it’s only the first day of the tournament. The next three days, I’m really looking forward to making as many birdies as I can.”

The leading Americans are Paula Creamer and former USC golfer Nicole Castrale, who are in a seven-way tie for fourth, three shots behind Yang.

Creamer, who owns one major championship, the 2010 U.S. Open, played with Tseng on Thursday and said she was happy to be head to head with the world No. 1.

“Obviously, you’re playing the golf course, but she’s going to be right there on Sunday,” Creamer said, “and she’s the best player in the world, and it’s good to play with people that are going to push you.”

diane.pucin@latimes.com

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