Laura Diaz had a run of five straight birdies and was tied for the lead with Jill McGill and Hilary Lunke at 6-under-par 66 after the opening round of the Wachovia LPGA Classic on Thursday.
Han Hee-won, coming off a runner-up finish last week, birdied five of her first seven holes and got to 7 under before making bogey at Nos. 15 and 16 and dropping into a nine-way tie for fourth at 5 under 67.
PHOTO: EPA
Lorena Ochoa, who earned her first LPGA Tour victory in May and is third on the money list, and rookie Mikaela Parmlid also had 67s.
Tournament host Betsy King opened with a 68 at Berkleigh Country Club and was tied with Kraft Nabisco Championship winner Grace Park and four others.
US Women's Open winner Meg Mallon is tied with 11 others after an opening 69, while Dottie Pepper, defending champion Candie Kung, 2002 winner Pak Se-ri, Karrie Webb and 14 others are four strokes back.
Diaz, feeling close to 100 percent after offseason ankle surgery, started on the back nine and strung together birdies from the 13th through the 17th, and then added another at No. 8, her 17th.
"It's always nice to `row' birdies," said Diaz, who had surgery in December to repair a damaged tendon and torn ligament in her left ankle. "This course has been quite the hurdle for me in the past, so, to see the ball actually go in the hole was very exciting for me."
The 32-year-old McGill is seeking her first career win in nine years on tour. Also starting on the back nine, she was the first to post a 66 after making four birdies on her first nine. After a bogey at No. 1, her 10th, she added three birdies on her last nine, including a chip-in from 40 feet at No. 2.
"I've worn myself down being so nervous and uptight," McGill said. "[Today] was very mellow and I was able to focus on what I needed to do."
McGill is hoping her new approach will help her make the best of her game.
"It's almost like hitting rock bottom, you know, from literally being out here nine years and not accomplishing what I want to accomplish, something's got to give," she said. "Obviously, what I've been doing hasn't been working, so I have decided to take a new approach to my game."
Lunke, who last year became the first qualifier to win the US Open, had the finest round of her career. Slowed by troubles with her putter this year, she made three birdie putts from beyond 15 feet and added a 12-footer on her last hole.
Tradition
AP, Aloha, Oregon
Jose Maria Canizares birdied his last hole to complete a 5-under-par 67 and share the first-round lead with Bruce Summerhays and Vicente Fernandez at the Tradition on Thursday.
Fuzzy Zoeller was one shot back at the soggy Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club in the fifth and final major of the season on the Champions Tour.
Local favorite Peter Jacobsen is one of nine players two strokes back after an opening 69. Defending champion Tom Watson shot a 73 as golfers battled frequent squalls and slow play.
"It's not easy because it's so wet," Canizares said. "It's difficult to control."
Galleries were sparse as downpours rolled through the area, the latest of several days of rain.
Jacobsen, who helped bring the Tradition to his home state last year after the event was held 14 years in Arizona, easily had the largest following.
Jacobsen teed off early, long before the late afternoon's bursts of sunshine. The forecast called for drier and warmer conditions over the weekend.
Fernandez was at 5 under going to the par-5 18th. He tried to reach the green in two, but his second shot sailed over the stands.
After a drop, his next shot settled about 20 feet from the hole, and he saved par.
Summerhays also had trouble at the 18th, hitting his tee shot into the tees and then grabbing his back. About the same time, dark clouds overhead opened up. He recovered and saved par
But Summerhays recovered and saved par. He said he simply had a bad swing on his tee shot -- no injury.
Buick
AP, Cromwell, Connecticut
Corey Pavin started strong and finished with a flourish for one of the best rounds of his career and a three-stroke lead at the inaugural Buick Championship on Thursday.
Pavin matched his career low with an 8-under-par 62 at TPC at River Highlands. It was also a season low for 44-year-old Pavin and the best round in his 12 appearances at the tournament formerly called the Greater Hartford Open.
Pavin has contended in this event several times, especially in the mid-1990s when he finished with a second and third.
"I've had good success in the past and for some reason, I play OK," Pavin said. "Anytime you get to a golf course you feel comfortable on, you just feel good that you might shoot a good score or things are going to come together. And today was a day that everything seemed to come together."
Bob Burns and Matt Weibring are second at 5-under 65. Bunched together four strokes behind the leader with 66s were Fred Funk, David Peoples, Jerry Kelly, Jason Dufner and Craig Bowden.
Pavin's round was one stroke off the tournament record of 61 held by three players -- two-time champ Phil Mickelson, Scott Verplank and Kirk Triplett. It also matched the event's best first-round score, set in 2001 by Jonathan Kaye. Pavin's only other 62 came in the 1990 Texas Open, where he finished third.
He took advantage of ideal scoring conditions in his morning round after heavy fog lifted and softened the greens at TPC at River Highlands. Pavin holed a 120-yard wedge shot on the 341-yard second hole for an eagle. His seven-birdie round included a 45-foot chip-in at No. 18 that brought a roar from the gallery.
His only stumble was a bogey at No. 12, when he missed a 10-footer for par.
The 24-year-old Weibring is playing on a sponsor's exemption and is competing in just his third PGA Tour event. His father, D.A. Weibring, won this event in 1996 with his then 16-year-old son in the gallery.
Matt Weibring is making his first return to Hartford since that win, but remembers vividly his father's shotmaking in the final round and his one-stroke win over Tom Kite.
BMW
AP, Nord Eichenried, Germany
Two-time US Open champion Retief Goosen grabbed the first-round lead in the BMW Open at 6-under-par 66, and Colin Montgomerie boosted his Ryder Cup chances by finishing a stroke back on Thursday.
On a cold, rainy day that kept scores high, the South African recorded eight birdies and two bogeys at the US$2.2 million event, where the European players are scrambling in their last chance to qualify for the Ryder Cup.
At stake are four open berths on the 12-man squad to play the Americans next month in Oakland Hills, Michigan. Also undecided are Bernhard Langer's two captain's picks, for which Montgomerie is a candidate.
Goosen played his first round of golf since injuring his leg during a jet ski accident after the British Open five weeks ago. He jumped into the lead with five birdies and a bogey in his closing seven holes.
"It still hurts a little when I walk," Goosen said. "I'm really surprised at the way I hit the ball today, really solid."
Montgomerie shared second at 67 with Australia's Peter O'Malley, England's David Lynn and John Daly, a positive start to ending a slump that includes last week's 58th finish at the NEC Invitational.
He had been struggling with his putting, but on Thursday the Scotsman's steady play around the greens helped him save a lot of pars and finish a bogey-free round.
"It was quite difficult out there, the wind is swirling and it is heavy conditions," Montgomerie said. "I always pride myself on the fact that I don't make bogeys."
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