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**truebluefan** · 04-19-2008, 09:51 PM

Williamsburg, VA

**truebluefan** · 05-09-2008, 03:43 AM

Mhairi McKay fired an eight-under-par 63 Thursday to take the lead after the opening round of the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill.

McKay, who is winless on the LPGA Tour, tied the course record with her 63. Three other players have shot 63 here. However, she has some big names lurking.

World No. 2 Annika Sorenstam has won twice this season. She is one stroke behind McKay at minus-seven and is tied there with Sun Young Yoo.

Meanwhile, world No. 1 Lorena Ochoa is just two back at six-under 65 and shares fourth place with Diana D'Alessio on the River Course at Kingsmill Resort & Spa.

Further down the leaderboard, Michelle Wie returned to action for the first time since the Fields Open in Hawaii in February. Wie opened with a four-over 75 and she is tied for 126th in the 144-player field. She posted just one birdie to go with five bogeys in her round.

McKay chipped her third to six feet to set up birdie at the third. Her approach hit the flag stick at the sixth and stopped eight feet from the hole.

The Scot drained that birdie putt to get to two-under. She followed with six- foot and two-foot birdie putts on seven and eight.

Around the turn, McKay poured in a 27-footer for birdie on the 11th to climb to five-under. She drained back-to-back 20-footers at 14 and 15, then closed with a five-foot birdie putt at the last to match the course record, as well as her career low.

"I feel great and I shot below my age on both nines," joked the 33-year-old McKay. "Maybe that should be my goal for the year."

Sorenstam also played the front nine first and also opened with a birdie on the third, where she chipped to four feet. Two holes later, she ran home a 30- foot birdie effort.

At the seventh, Sorenstam dropped a wedge to six feet and knocked that putt in for birdie. She came right back with a 35-foot birdie putt on eight to turn in minus-four.

Sorenstam sank her fifth birdie on the 10th from four feet out. After three straight pars, she converted an eight-footer for birdie on 14, then sank a 14- foot birdie putt on 17 to finish one back

"I'm thrilled with the round. I haven't shot this low all year so it feels good to get off to a good start here, a place that I really like a lot and haven't played so well," said Sorenstam, whose best finish here is a tie for sixth in 2003.

Yoo dropped in back-to-back birdies from the 14th to go with seven pars on her opening nine. On the front, she birdied two and three before dropping a shot at five. The South Korean ran off four straight birdies from the sixth to close out her round.

Ochoa got going with birdies on one and three, but she stumbled to a bogey on the fourth. She sank an eagle putt from just inside 20 feet at the seventh to move to minus-three.

Around the turn, Ochoa could not save par after missing the green at the 10th to slip to minus-two. She regained one stroke with a birdie on 11. Ochoa ran off three consecutive birdies from the 14th to end two behind the leader.

"It was a good day. I don't know why this course gives up low scores," Ochoa stated. "I was surprised to see that because the course is playing tough, but at the same time we're playing in the morning, the wind was never too hard and the greens were soft."

Stacy Prammanasudh leads a group in sixth place at five-under-par 66. She was joined there by Eun Hee Ji, Song-Hee Kim, Candie Kung, Janice Moodie, Hee Young Park.

Defending champion Suzann Pettersen opened with an even-par 71 and is tied for 74th.

**truebluefan** · 05-10-2008, 05:13 AM

Lorena Ochoa started with a birdie, pulling her even with Annika Sorenstam, the playing partner she replaced as the No. 1 female golfer in the world.

Two holes later, Sorenstam answered. And then again at the par-4 16th, rolling in a birdie putt from about 8 feet away after Ochoa briefly drew even with a tap-in from an inch.

So it went Friday in the Michelob Ultra Open, where sometimes driving rain and two rain delays did little to put a damper on a friendly duel between the game's best players.

Sorenstam followed a 64 with a 66, leaving her at 12 under, three better than Ochoa, whose bogey at the last hole gave her 68, and Jeong Jang, who matched Sorenstam with her 66.

"I'm right there, so I'm excited," Ochoa said.

The day wasn't as good for Michelle Wie. Playing in her first tournament in 2 1/2 months, the Stanford freshman followed a 4-over 75 with a 71 and missed the cut by four strokes.

"I just feel really rusty," she said after making a birdie on the final hole to finish even on the day. "I feel like I just need to play more. ... I feel like I can get it back."

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**truebluefan** · 05-11-2008, 11:03 PM

Annika Sorenstam's comeback is real. And with her third victory in eight events this season, she also showed she can beat the new No. 1, Lorena Ochoa.

The eight-time player of the year pulled away from Ochoa on Saturday, using her typical steadiness for a 2-under 69, then did the same to Jeong Jang on Sunday. Four birdies in five holes on the back nine Sunday left no doubt the injuries that led to her winless 2007 are behind her, and that her once-unrivaled game is almost all the way back.

"The last nine holes, I just dialed it in," Sorenstam said. "The yardage was right. The club was right. The direction was right. It just felt really good, really solid."

Sorenstam shot a closing 66 in the Michelob Ultra Open to obliterate Karrie Webb's tournament record by five shots with a 265 total. Jang missed a short putt on the final hole for her first bogey in 35 holes and dropped into a tie for second with Christina Kim (69), who made a birdie on the final hole, Allison Fouch (64) and Karen Stupples (66).

But the story was Sorenstam, who said this weekend she knew there were people that thought her best days were behind her. She also said she'd love to play her way back to No. 1.

There also were those who pointed out her first two victories this season came in events Ochoa didn't play, but the Swede answered those doubts this weekend, too.

"She hit a perfect iron shot every single hole," Jang said. "Annika's back."

"It's good to see that she is where she was when she was No. 1," said Kim, who played with Sorenstam and Jang in the final threesome. "It's just - flawless is the best way to put it."

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