Excitement was the word of the day at the Nabisco Championship’s Dinah Shore Tournament Course. Tied at the top of the leaderboard with 3-under 69 are Mi Hyun-Kim, Rosie Jones, and Karen Stupples. But, watch out ladies! The LPGA’s number one superstar, Annika Sorenstam, is only one stroke behind with a 2-under 70.
Annika Sorenstam is looking for her third win at this tournament and a possible grand slam, or what is now being called a “Sorenslam.” After a stumble today at the 12th, Annika regained control of her game and birdied both the 13 and 14th holes. Sorenstam is already tied for most wins in majors with veteran Juli Inkster. With a win this week, Annika will lead in majors by herself and top the $6 million mark in career earnings.
Michelle Wie finished her round with a two under par 70 today placing her above many professionals who have been playing this tournament for years. At the tender age of 15 and still an amateur on the LPGA Tour, this is already Wie’s third Kraft Nabisco Championship. She not only finished with top ten placements for the last two years but finished in fourth place all by herself last year. After her round Wie stated “I could have been better… but, taking second place in Hawaii gave me confidence.” Wie also maintained that this venue is “one of the top ten on my list.”
Qualifying for the U.S. Open at age 12 and currently ranked the number one women’s amateur, Morgan Pressel completed her round tying Wie one with a 2-under-par 70. Pressel’s putting kept her in contention with a bogey-free round. Morgan stated “I want to win,” but “at the end the wind picked up more than it had, and the greens were firmer today than all week.”
Grace Park, last year’s winner at the Kraft Nabisco Tournament, has been struggling with back pain since an injury forced her into therapy after the Mastercard Tournament three weeks ago. Although Grace opted out of this week’s pro-am, she understood the importance of defending last year’s title. As the tournament progressed, Park’s back seems to have loosened up and she came in at +1 (73).
This tournament is no easy walk in the park. Many of the top contenders have finished their first rounds over par, including calendar girl Natalie Gulbis, who ended with a one-over-par 73 and Japanese phenom Ai Miyazato, coming in with a disappointing 75. Karrie Webb, also looking for her first win of 2005, got off to a slow start with a 2-over 74. Lorena Ochoa, trying to come back after a cringing loss to Annika at last weeks sudden death playoff, double-bogeyed early, carded three more bogeys during her round, grabbed one birdie at the 8th and finished her round with a 76.
Other notables in the field today included Juli Inkster and Carin Koch, currently tied with Sorenstam and Wie at 2 under par.
Second round action airs Friday from 5-7 pm ET on ESPN2. Saturday coverage is 4:30-6pm ET (1:30PT) on ABC and the finals air Sunday 4-6 pm ET(1PM PT), also on ABC.