MOBILE, Alabama, 15 November 2003 — Canada’s Lorie Kane overcame an opening bogey, gusty winds and cool temperatures on Thursday to post a 2-under-par 70, good enough for a one-stroke lead over Australian Karrie Webb at the Mobile LPGA Tournament of Champions.
Only two of the 29 players in the $1.3 million event broke par on a day when the wind played havoc with club selection. It was so bad that South Korean star Se Ri Pak opened her quest for a “three-peat” with a 76.
“It was one of those days where you’d just hit a shot and try to control the ball flight as much as you can,” said Kane. “The only good thing was it was out of the left or right and down or in.”
The only bad thing that happened to Kane was her bogey at the par-4 first hole, where she drove into a fairway bunker and eventually missed a 25-foot par putt.
“Starting with a bogey was not what I’d planned, but I said to myself that it was not going to ruin my day,” she said. “I worked hard and had some chances.”
Kane’s first birdie came at the par-5 fourth hole, where she hit a 7-wood to the back fringe and chipped to two feet. In fact, all three of her birdies were from two feet — at the par-4 seventh and par-3 14th.
Unfazed by the wind, Kane was able to work around the rest of The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Magnolia Grove with a series of pars.
It’s a good tune-up for Kane and the rest of the players headed to West Palm Beach, Florida, for next week’s ADT Championship. Kane said the condition of the course, especially the greens, is great preparation.
“This is the best condition this golf course has been in since we’ve come here,” she said. “I think it’s a great warm-up for those of us who are playing next week.”
Webb can’t wait until next week’s over. She’s running out of gas as she finishes the season with four straight starts, and it showed Thursday on her front nine, which included a string of three bogeys.
Webb turned it around at the par-3 eighth hole, where she chipped in for birdie from 30 feet. She played the final 10 holes in 2-under.
Webb made a 10-foot birdie putt at the par-4 11th and two-putted for another birdie at the par-5 16th around a bogey at the 14th. She bore down on the back nine in the face of the wind gusts.
Pak is trying to become the seventh player in LPGA Tour history to win the same event three straight years. Last week in Japan, Annika Sorenstam became the first to do it at two tournaments. Hee-Won Han of South Korea and Dorothy Delasin were the only players to shoot par. Catriona Matthew of Scotland was another stroke back after posting a 73, a shot better than Wendy Ward.
