The 2005 Takefuji Classic in Las Vegas started out this morning with winds howling and branches literally falling off the trees. The early tee times got a bad break today with savage winds in opening-round action. As fair skies moved in both Wendy Ward and Karrie Webb shot opening rounds of 7-under 65 to share the lead.
Webb was disappointed with her early-round action. “I got off to a bit of a shaky start. I bogeyed the first. I made about a 6-footer for par. Well, I bogeyed 10. I made a six-footer for par on 11.” Once she got comfortable, Karrie knew it. “When I made birdies at 13 and 14 I finally settled into the round and played a really good back nine which was obviously the front nine for me” said Webb, speaking of starting her round on the tenth hole.
Fellow competitor Wendy Ward is convinced that “the neat thing about this course pretty much every hole is birdie-able. One thing that I work hard on is to not put too much pressure on myself or get too disappointed when you maybe, you know, miss a birdie opportunity. You know there is going to be another one facing you right on the next hole.”
But, the wind didn’t stop Australian Wendy Doolan and Scot Catriona Matthew from each grabbing an early share of the lead and winding up one shot behind the first-round leaders. Today, Matthew played unbelievably, with nine birdies in 18 holes. At the 13th hole, Cat made a phenomenal chip-in birdie to get to 7-under par but gave it back at 15. Catriona followed with a three-putt for a back-to-back bogey at 16. She then rebounded with another tremendous shot at 17, holing out from the sand. Making a big mistake at 18, Matthew flew her second shot into the water, but holed out with a bogey. When asked if there was a difference between playing a three-day versus a four-day event, Cat stated “You’ve got an extra round in a 72-hole event to catch up, so getting off to a quick start definitely helps in 54 holes.”
Wendy Doolan has three starts and one top-ten finish so far this season. Today, Doolan started comfortably, with pars on the first five holes but then grooved a birdie at the 6th hole and dunked back-to-back eagles on the 8th and 9th to finish her front nine with a remarkable 31. With more back-to-back birdie action on 13 and 14 and only one bogey on her finishing hole, look for Doolan to break away from the rest of the pack tomorrow.
2004 LPGA Rookie Mikaela Parmlid had an amazing opening round, finishing her round with a 5-under par 67, tied for 8th. The Swede scored birdies on 6, 8, 9, 10, 13, and 18 with only one bogey at the 17th. Mi Hyun Kim, shares a tie for third with four players including amateur In-Bee Park, a 16-year-old junior from Las Vegas. Starting her round at the tenth hole with an eagle and following up with birdies on 13, 14, and 17, Kim finished her opening nine holes with a 31.
Heather Bowie finished her round today with 5 birdies (3 in sequence on 8, 9 and 10), one double bogey at 7 and a bogey at 15. Heather stands just 2 off the lead tied with a large group at 4-under 68. Cristie Kerr who is defending her 2004 Takefuji Classic, Hall-of-Famer and three time consecutive US Amateur winner Juli Inkster, veteran Rosie Jones and Natalie Gulbis are all tied for 59nd place at even par. Watch for Natalie Gulbis’ new reality series which is scheduled to air on the Golf Channel after the season finale of the Big Break III, Ladies Only.
2005 Rookie, Paula Creamer, is in contention with a 2-under par. Creamer is looking for another good finish to add points in her bid for the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year Award.
And, Happy Birthday to Meg Mallon…
This is the second event in a series of ten events that State Farm is sponsoring over the next months. 100 points have already been awarded to Annika Sorenstam for winning the Kraft Nabisco Championship two weeks ago. $250,000 will be awarded at the end of the bonus pool competition
With 17 of the top-20 players playing at the Takefuji Classic, the pressure will be turned on this week. The action continues on ESPN 2 Friday from 3-5PM ET. Final Round coverage runs from 5-7PM ET also on ESPN 2.
Photo Credit: © LPGA.com.
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