JAPAN'S SAIKI SURGES TO EVIAN MASTERS LEAD

MIKI SAIKI

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France – Miki Saiki of Japan took a one-stroke lead at the Evian Masters on Friday, shooting a 5-under 67 in the second round to move to 9 under as the drenched course started to dry.

Saiki leads Americans Angela Stanford, whose 66 included seven birdies, and Kraft Nabisco winner Stacy Lewis (67). Also challenging at 8 under are former Evian champion Ai Miyazato of Japan, who finished with a 68, co-overnight leader Maria Hjorth of Sweden (69) and South Korea's Ahn Shin-ae (69).

"From yesterday, I was hitting the ball really well and it kind of continued today," Saiki said through a translator. "Yesterday there was a lot of rain and you didn't know what you were going to get. Today you had no wind, the greens were consistent."

Paula Creamer (67), Cristie Kerr (69) and Karren Stupples (70) were two shots behind the leader. Kerr had an eagle on the ninth and followed with a birdie on 10.

Stanford's plan was to attack from the outset.

"Before we went out (we) realized the course could be scoreable with some of the pin placements," Stanford said.

Players were relieved not to have the burden of the teeming rain to deal with, although more showers are forecast for Saturday.

"We didn't have our umbrella up the whole time, so that was nice," Stanford said.

Lewis picked up her form after going 3-over in the last four holes at the end of her rain-soaked first round Thursday. Starting the day at 3 under, the Lewis decided she would take a positive attitude and finished with seven birdies.

She wrote a single word on her glove to cheer herself up.

"I just wrote 'confident.' Just to trust what I'm doing," she said. "I just started making birdies and putts."
Ahn was pressuring for a share of the lead again until she hit a wild tee shot into the rough on the 18th, managing par.

Creamer was only 18 when she beat 15-year-old Michelle Wie to win at Evian in 2005. She has not won it since, and admits that early success resulted in unrealistic expectations.

"Every year I've come back and I've expected myself to do it over and over again," she said. "In reality, I put a little too much pressure on myself."

Meanwhile, Wie shot 73 and missed the cut at 5 over, despite birdies on the last two holes.

Seven-time major champion Juli Inkster also failed to make the cut, finishing 3 over.
Miyazato is looking forward to better conditions in the third round.

"The greens are still soft, so everyone's going to shoot a low score," she said.

- Story courtesy of The Associated Press/Photo courtesy of Getty Images

VETERAN STARS HJORTH, STUPPLES JOIN SHIN-AE ATOP LEADERBOARD AT SOGGY EVIAN MASTERS

MARIA HJORTH

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France – Former British Open champion Karen Stupples of England shot a 5-under 67 for a share of the first-round lead with Sweden's Maria Hjorth and South Korea's Ahn Shin-ae at the Evian Masters on Thursday.

Stupples, who won her only major in 2004, recovered well from a double bogey on the ninth hole to make six birdies for a 30 on the back nine as heavy rain soaked the course at regular intervals during the day.

"Obviously the weather was pretty grim to start with. It's been a while since I've played in conditions like that," the 38-year-old Stupples said. "After I made that double bogey on (No. 9), it was almost like the kick I needed to get going."

Cristie Kerr, the 2007 U.S. Open champion, had a consistent day with six birdies and only two bogeys for a 68, tied with 2009 champion Ai Miyazato of Japan.

Defending champion Jiyai Shin of South Korea made a solid start with a 69, including three birdies in the first four holes, before bogeys on No. 6 and 8 slowed her down. The 23-year-old Shin is still looking for her first title of the year.

Stupples used the pace of the slick, rain-soaked greens to her advantage to shoot a brilliant 30 on the back nine, after going out in 37, where she had a bogey on the sixth hole.

"With the kind of rain we've had here, it's made the greens a bit like dart boards, so you can really fire at all the pins," she said. "I was hitting my irons well, confident with my putter, too. The greens are absolutely perfect, I've never seen them in as good a condition as they are now."

Kerr, who was third at the recent U.S. Open, has yet to win a tournament this season. She finished runner-up at three consecutive tournaments – the Sybase Match Play Championship, ShopRite LPGA Classic and State Farm Classic.

Kerr believes a tournament win will come if she stays patient.

"Just trying not to put too much pressure on myself and execute well," she said.

While Stupples birdied the last three holes, Hjorth did the opposite, going from 8 under to 5 under with bogeys on the last three holes. Still, on a good day for veterans, the 37-year-old Hjorth was in an upbeat mood.

"I've been putting great today. The greens are the fastest they've ever been, and I've been playing here for 15 years," Hjorth said. "I played really solid, obviously not the finish that I would have liked. But you could have three bogeys anywhere. But I take 5 under any day."

Kraft Nabisco champion Stacy Lewis looked well set to take the lead at 6 under with four holes remaining, but a double bogey on the 15th meant she finished the day level with Shin and five others on 69.

"I played really well for 14 holes," Lewis said. "I just missed a couple of short putts and hit a bad chip and that kind of compounded my mistakes. The weather was all over the place: it was rainy, it was cold, it was hot."

Lewis lost balance as she was preparing to tee off on the 15th, and then lost more ground after a bogey on the 18th.

"Off the tee my foot slipped a bit and I pulled my tee shot," she said. "It was a bad chip. I chipped in earlier in the day so it wasn't like my chipping was bad today, I just hit a bad shot."

Michelle Wie struggled with a double bogey, three bogeys, and only one birdie in a 4-over round of 76.

Wie first played at the event in 2004 as an invited 14-year-old amateur, and she tied for second the following year behind winner Paula Creamer – who ended the day with a 2-under 70.

Late in the afternoon, Wie was back out on the practice greens, where she chipped for several minutes, before taking her frustrations out on the driving range.

- Story courtesy of The Associated Press/Photo courtesy of Getty Images

KERR, ANDERSON TAKE EARLY OPEN LEAD

AMY ANDERSON

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Instead of teeing it up when she comes back to the Broadmoor, Cristie Kerr's next shot at the U.S. Women's Open will be a blast out of the bunker on the front, right side of the seventh green.

A difficult shot. It could be worse.

A quirky day of thunder and lightning – but only spits of rain – suspended play Thursday with 25 players making it through the first round. It was a bad break on the opening day of the toughest test in golf -- balky weather that figures to turn one of the most difficult weeks on the schedule into an even bigger grind.

"That's part of the gamble," said Christina Kim, who will try to squeeze in 36 holes on Friday.

The rain halted a mini streak for Kerr, who had made two straight birdies to get into a tie for the lead at 2-under par with amateur Amy Anderson. After her second birdie, Kerr, who opened her round on the back, teed off into the right rough on No. 7, then hit her approach into the sand. That's when the siren sounded and the players headed to the clubhouse.

"At least I'll get to practice some long bunker shots before we go out, so maybe it's a good thing for me," she said.

After halting play, the USGA kept the players in the clubhouse for 2½ hours, but with the thunder still rumbling and the radar blinking red, officials called play. There were 75 players on the course and 66 who hadn't hit a shot. That means nearly half the field, including defending champion Paula Creamer and Yani Tseng, trying to complete her career Grand Slam, could face 72 holes in three days.

The Broadmoor is the first U.S. Women's Open course to measure more than 7,000 yards – quite a haul, even at 6,700 feet in altitude.

"We were actually sitting here debating, what's the better draw?" Kim said. "Is it the one we have and we try to get 36 in in one day, or the one where you have 19 hours between shots in the same round?"

Sarah-Jane Smith of Australia falls into the latter category, but only barely. After hearing her name announced on the first tee box, Smith striped her first shot down the middle of the fairway and started walking. Suddenly, the sirens blared and she made a U-turn back to the clubhouse.

"I've not teed off at all before," she said. "But I've never hit one, then walked straight back in. I'm looking forward to it."

Then, pointing to her husband and caddie, Duane, she said, "He should have the yardage figured out by tomorrow morning."

For the record, Duane Smith says it will be a 150-yard shot when play resumes at 7:45 a.m. local time Friday.

And while Smith is sleeping on one good shot, Anderson will join Kerr in sleeping on the lead.

The second-team All-American from North Dakota State hit her approach on the par-5 ninth to tap-in range for her second birdie of the day. That put her at 2 under.

"The first-day leader," she said. "That's way more than I could have imagined."

She needs to hold onto the lead for six more holes to make it official.

The only other players under par when play was suspended were Inbee Park (through 17), Ai Miyazato (15) and Silvia Cavalleri, who birdied her first hole before play was halted. Karrie Webb was in a group of nine still on the course at even. Michelle Wie was 7 over through 17 holes.

The best score posted among the 25 players who had finished belonged to Kristy McPherson, who shot 2-over 73. That was one shot ahead of Aree Song and seven-time major winner Juli Inkster. Before the clouds rolled in, Inkster stood for about five minutes on the fairway of the par-5, 17th hole, waiting for the green to clear before she tried a 250-yard approach shot on a hole that had been unreachable during the practice rounds.

The shot came up about 20 yards short and Inkster settled for par.

"It's nice" to be done, Inkster said. "It's been a while since I've been on the good side of the switch. It's going to be a long day for them."

Typical of the U.S. Open, rounds were averaging more than five hours. Some of the players were surprised the USGA didn't wait a little longer before calling play, but the threat of rain and lightning never really abated. They'll need perfect weather the rest of the week to close out this tournament on Sunday.

- Story by The Associated Press/Photo courtesy of Getty Images

HAWAIIAN TEEN GALDIANO YOUNGEST IN OPEN FIELD

MARIEL GALDIANO

 

It wasn't so long ago that Mariel Galdiano would wait patiently behind the rope to politely request an autograph from her favorite LPGA golfers at tour stops near her home in Hawaii.

Now, just a couple of weeks past her 13th birthday, the rope has been lifted. Mariel is having a hard time believing that she has the opportunity to be on the other side of that rope, and that the players she admired — well, still admires — will be her peers, and that girls might even ask for her autograph. She's been practicing her signature, just in case.

Mariel will be the youngest golfer in the 66th U.S. Women's Open, which tees off Thursday at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs.

She qualified by winning a sectional qualifying tournament in May when she was 12 years old and finishing seventh grade. She will be one of the youngest golfers in the history of the tournament (LPGA star Morgan Pressel and Alexis Thompson, now 16, both played in the tournament at age 12), and the youngest ever from Hawaii — breaking the mark of 13 years, 9 months set by Michelle Wie.

"It still hasn't sunk in yet," Mariel said shortly after arriving in Colorado on Friday. "Maybe it will when everyone is staring at me."

Mariel qualified for the U.S. Women's Open when she sank a birdie putt on the final hole of the 36-hole qualifier to win that tournament by one stroke. She entered the qualifying tournament for the experience and never expected to win, yet that birdie putt set her off on a wild summer adventure.

A week after her school year ended, Mariel packed her large red suitcase and flew to the U.S. mainland with her father, Roger. Over the course of eight weeks, they will crisscross the country as Mariel plays in five tournaments, from Oregon to Rhode Island.

All this only eight years after Roger Galdiano first bought his daughter a set of golf clubs, so a 5-year-old Mariel could accompany him on his daily trips to the course and driving range.

It wasn't long before Mariel advanced from what she described as "just hacking away" to participating in the junior golf program at Ko Olina, the club in Hawaii that hosted the LPGA's Fields Open from 2006-08.

Mariel was competitive on the junior circuit and won her share of tournaments against girls her own age.

Roger, a construction foreman, quit playing the game himself so he could focus on his daughter's burgeoning career. Mariel had a coach several years ago, but now Roger handles the coaching and caddying duties as he and his wife, Marivic, dream of Mariel earning a college scholarship to play golf.

"For us, it was either golf all the way or no golf," Roger Galdiano said.

Still, for Mariel, golf is just plain fun. While she enjoys shopping and watching movies with her friends, nothing beats an afternoon on the course.

She seems more excited to meet some of her favorite players — such as Paula Creamer and Annika Sorenstam, who will conduct a clinic at The Broadmoor on Wednesday — than she is nervous about actually playing in the biggest tournament in women's golf.

"I don't really expect to make the cut. This is about playing with pros and really just learning how they play," Mariel said. "And I can never forget to have fun. That's pretty much what this whole summer is about. Who knows when I'll ever qualify for this again?"

Pressel, now 23 and the owner of one major title, would likely agree with that mind-set.

"My advice to her would be to just have fun. When I played (in the U.S. Women's Open at age 12 in 2001), it really solidified my decision that this is what I wanted to do with the rest of my life," Pressel told The Denver Post at a tournament in Illinois last month. "I remember Karrie Webb winning, and seeing Annika and all these great players that I looked up to forever. To play against them, on the same golf course, the same week, it was pretty special. I just hung out in the locker room. I thought it was the coolest place to be, because the players were all people I looked up to."

- Story courtesy of the Denver Post

TSENG CLINGS TO LEAD AT LPGA CHAMPIONSHIP

YANI TSENG

PITTSFORD, N.Y. - After seeing her lead disappear in the morning session, Yani Tseng fought her way back into a place where she's been plenty comfortable this year.

The top-ranked Tseng overcame a double bogey on her ninth hole to shoot a 2-under 70 on Friday for a one-stroke lead over Pat Hurst after the second round of the LPGA Championship, the tour's second major of the year.

Hurst had a 67. Morgan Pressel, Minea Blomqvist, and Hee Young Park were 6 under after 69s.

Battling a torrential downpour then a steady drizzle for nearly half her first nine holes, Tseng followed her first-round-best 66 with a gritty performance that put her at 8 under overall. She won the LPGA State Farm Classic two weeks ago for her second LPGA Tour victory of the year, and could become the first player since Lorena Ochoa in 2008 to follow a regular tournament victory with a win in a major.

"I feel a little bit disappointed in my round, but I hung in there," Tseng said. "I missed some short putts, and that's very disappointing. But I still have the lead, and I'm still very excited."

Hurst played in the morning before the heavy rain hit Locust Hill Country Club, and took a one-stroke lead before Tseng teed off on the back nine in the early afternoon.

Tseng shook off the inclement weather by reeling off three straight birdies to open a two-stoke edge over Hurst, but Tseng's game suddenly soured at the par-4 18th after her drive went into the left rough and under a tree, forcing her to punch out.

A nifty approach shot that stopped about 3 feet from the hole left her with a chance to salvage a bogey, but her putt rimmed out, and left her looking at the hole in disbelief.

She promptly regained her focus and grabbed the lead with a birdie at No. 1.

"I told myself, 'I have to make birdie,'" she said. "I looked up to the sky, kept my head up, and was thinking positive."

Tseng fell back into a tie with Hurst and eventually Pressel after bogeying her 14th hole, but at No. 8 she made the last of her five birdies on the day to head into the weekend with a slim lead.

Unlike Tseng, Hurst gave plenty of credit to her play on the green. She made two long putts on the day, including a 40-footer on her 17th hole (No. 8) that gave her a brief two-stroke edge over Tseng.

"I feel like I've been hitting the ball really well...the bottom line is not making any putts," said Hurst, who hasn't won a tournament since 2009. "I'm just thinking about playing some good golf and making some putts."

Hurst also holed a chip shot from the light fringe on No. 15 after her approach shot went over the green.
"I would really be excited if it was Sunday," she joked. "I've gained a little bit of confidence out there and feeling good."

Pressel moved into a brief second-place tie with Hurst after she birdied the par-5 17th hole, but she then bogeyed 18 to fall back into third.

"I felt good out there and made a lot of good swings," she said. "I feel like I can keep the ball in play."

Defending champion Cristie Kerr shot her second straight 72 to make the cut. Michelle Wie also opened with consecutive 72s.

- Story by The Associated Press/Photo courtesy of Getty Images

TEE TIMES SET FOR WEGMANS LPGA CHAMPIONSHIP

I.K. KIM

Here are the opening-round tee times Thursday at the Wegmans LPGA Championship at Locust Hill Country Club in Pittsford, N.Y. Please click on the link below for the entire list of groups:

http://www.lpgascoring.com/public/Pairings.aspx?TournamentID=27828

THURSDAY'S FEATURED PAIRINGS
Group 8/Tee No. 10
7:48 a.m.
Hee Young Park, Aree Song, Jin Young Pak

Group 16/Tee No. 10
8:32 a.m.
Kyeong Bae, Christina Kim, Ji Young Oh

Group 19/Tee No. 1
8:54 a.m.
Michelle Wie, Cristie Kerr, Brittany Lincicome

Group 21/Tee No. 1
9:05 a.m.
Yani Tseng, Ai Miyazato, Juli Inkster

Group 23/Tee No. 1
9:16 a.m.
Sandra Gal, Suzann Pettersen, Paula Creamer

Group 24/Tee No. 10
9:16 a.m.
Catriona Matthew, Mindy Kim, Katherine Hull

Group 31/Tee No. 1
12:48 p.m.
Vicky Hurst, Pat Hurst, Hee Kyung Seo

Group 32/Tee No. 10
12:48 p.m.
Jiyai Shin, Stacy Lewis, I.K. Kim

Group 36/Tee No. 10
1:10 p.m.
Karrie Webb, Laura Davies, Natalie Gulbis


* Photo courtesy of Getty Images