Sat, May 19, 2007 page18

• Lee takes 2-stroke lead over Ochoa

  • AP
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  Sarah Lee shot a bogey-free 6-under 66 to take a two-stroke lead over defending champion Lorena Ochoa and four others after the first round of the Sybase Classic on Thursday.

  Future golf Hall of Famer Pak Se-ri, up-and-coming Brittany Lincicome, rookie Angela Park and Choi Hye-jung joined Ochoa at 68, a shot ahead of three others led by recent first-time winner Meaghan Francella.

  "I've been close in the last few weeks and this will be a nice week," said Ochoa, who hasn't won since supplanting Annika Sorenstam as the top-ranked player last month.

  

  Sarah Lee of South Korea watches her shot on the 13th hole during the first round of the LPGA Sybase Classic in Clifton, New Jersey, on Thursday. Lee leads after the first round.

  PHOTO: AP

  "It's important to be in a good position and to give myself a chance on Sunday and hopefully it will happen," she said.

  The Mexican star played well enough to have the lead, overcoming an early double bogey with a run of birdies on both nines of the Upper Montclair Country Club, which has replaced Wykagyl Country Club as the home of the Sybase Classic.

  Heading to the par-3 eighth, Ochoa was 5 under and seemingly headed for the lead.

  However, she pulled her tee shot left on the 17th hole and couldn't get up and down.

  Still, it appeared it would be good enough for a share of the lead -- that is until Lee came up big in the afternoon pairings.

  Lee, who led after the first two rounds of last week's Michelob Ultra Open and eventually finished third, had birdies ranging in length from 2m to 6m, capping her round with a 3m putt on the par-5 18th.

  It was an impressive performance after Lee was forced to skip practice on Tuesday because she was sick and then was limited to seven holes on Wednesday in the pro-am because of heavy rain.

  However, she also was coming off a great week at Kingsmill in Virginia. Her opening-round 63 and her 36-hole total of 131 were season lows on the US LPGA Tour.

  "I got a great opportunity to win but you know, I couldn't handle the last two, three holes," said Lee, who had a final-round 74 in Virginia. "But I learned from that how I'm going to play."

  The competition will be tough if the leaderboard stays the same.

  Ochoa, the US LPGA player of the year last year, has a win and seven top-10 finishes in nine events this year. Lincicome, who won the Women's World Match Play Championship in New Jersey last summer, won the Ginn Open last month.

  Pak, who won her fifth career major last year with the US LPGA Championship, hasn't finished worse than 13th in her last four events. Francella beat Sorenstam in a playoff earlier this year.

  Ochoa is the one to fear though. She had seven birdies, a double bogey and a bogey on an old-fashioned course that reminded her of the one she plays at home.

  Starting on No. 10, she birdied the 11th from 1.6m. She ran into trouble on 400m 12th, hitting her second into wood chips on a green protected by water. She chipped over the green and then chipped into the rough on the other side en route to a double bogey.

  Birdies of 1.3m, 0.6m and 5m got her righted, and she added three more birdies on her second nine, including a tap-in on a par 5.

  "The last two weeks in Tulsa and Kingsmill, that was my struggle that every time I make a birdie, then a made a bogey," Ochoa said. "I felt like I couldn't get a good momentum going. That was the difference today."

  Lincicome had a wild round that included four birdies, two eagles, two bogeys and a double bogey. She didn't know she was tied for the lead after the morning until she was asked to report to the media room.

  Pak, who has to complete four events to qualify for the Hall of Fame, was at even par after 13 holes. She birdied her final four holes with putts from a tap-in to 3m.

  "I'm happy the way I finished but it's still three more days to go," Pak said.

  Park, an 18-year-old South Korean who was born in Brazil, had four birdies and no bogeys. She leads the tour rookie standings with three top-20 finishes, including a tie for third.

  Choi had five birdies and a bogey. The second-year US LPGA player has four top-25 finishes.
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