By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
Natsuko Noro made a name
for herself yesterday with a 65.

"Who is that?" King asked incredulously.

Good question.

Good round, too, for Noro, who tied a tournament record with her career-low round to take a two-stroke lead over King, Tracy Kerdyk, Annika Sorenstam and Kelly Robbins going into today's second round at the Kapolei Golf Course.

Heady company for Noro, who had a large contingent of Japanese media buzzing. After all, King is an LPGA Hall of Famer, while Sorenstam, the two-time defending U.S. Women's Open champion, and Robbins have already won tournaments this year.

Not bad for the 31-year-old Nagoya native, who wasn't sure she was ready for such competition even though she finished 16th on the JLPGA Tour the past two years.

Noro found out only last month that she would be among the 12 JLPGA players in the event. Well, Noro said through an interpreter, she could use the trip as a learning experience, observing other players and getting the hang of American tournament routine.

And it took her a while to get the hang of going through her birdies (eight of them) and one bogey. How did she feel about being in the interview room? Confused, she said. But there was nothing confusing about her putting on Kapolei's paspalum greens, which threw some of the LPGA pros for a loop.

Leta Lindley, a third-year pro on the LPGA circuit who played in the same threesome with Noro, was impressed.

"She putted very well. Every putt had a chance to go in," said Lindley, who also fed off Noro's success by shooting a 4-under 68.

Only a bogey on the short but testy par-4 18th marred Lindley's round, preventing her from being tied for second. Instead, she's another shot back, along with Dale Eggeling.

Taking time to smell the flowers cost her. Lindley's second shot went over the green into a flower bed, but she had no relief because it was marked as a water hazard. The difficult chip went 40 feet past the pin.

"At least I didn't kill any flowers," said Lindley, who's half-Vietnamese.

Kapolei's a user-friendly course with no really hidden shots. What you see is what you get, according to Sorenstam. And the numerous water hazards posed no problem, if you're striking the ball well.

"I'm really happy the way I played today, but I could have putted better. I'm not used to this type of grass," said Sorenstam, whose only bogey came on a three-putt from four feet at the sixth hole.

"It's OK," Robbins added diplomatically about the greens. She had one three-putt -- from 60 feet -- but she put herself there with a fat 7-iron at the par-3 eighth hole. She dunked her tee shot into the water at No. 8 but made up for both bogeys by birdieing all four par-5s. "That's always a key out here," she said.

Kerdyk four-putted the 13th hole for a double-bogey 6 and also had a 3-putt, making her 67 even more remarkable. "It's the first four-putt ever in a tournament," said Kerdyk, who finished fourth here last year.

Among those in a six-way tie at 69 are defending champion Meg Mallon and Barb Whitehead, who won the 1995 Hawaiian Ladies Open as Barb Thomas.

Playing under ideal conditions with the gentle trades nowhere near last year's 40 mph gusts, the 143-player field had no difficulty with the par-72, 6,069-yard layout. Forty-one shot par or better, compared to only nine last year.

"It's amazing ... a 20-mile-an-hour wind compared to a 40-mile-an-hour one," Robbins said. "I'll see where the winds take me."

"I think this is going to get as good as it gets," King added. "It's not out of control yet."

The low 70 and ties after today's round will advance to tomorrow's final with the winner getting $97,500. The cut-off score doesn't figure to be anywhere near the record high of 153 last year.

Natsuko Noro ... 32-33--65 Betsy King ... 33-34--67 Tracy Kerdyk ... 32-35--67 Annika Sorenstam ... 34-33--67 Kelly Robbins ... 33-34--67 Dale Eggeling ... 34-34--68 Leta Lindley ... 32-36--68 Barb Whitehead ... 33-36--69 Val Skinner ... 37-32--69 Alice Ritzman ... 37-32--69 Deb Richard ... 35-34--69 Meg Mallon ... 33-36--69 Pat Hurst ... 36-33--69 Maggie Will-Halpin ... 35-35--70 Cindy Rarick ... 34-36--70 Martha Nause ... 34-36--70 Marta Figueras-Dotti ... 35-35--70 Dana Dormann ... 37-33--70 Laura Davies ... 34-36--70 Ok-Hee Ku ... 35-35--70 Kristal Parker-Gregory ... 35-35--70 Marianne Morris ... 35-35--70 Lorie Kane ... 36-34--70 Jan Stephenson ... 35-36--71 Nancy Ramsbottom ... 34-37--71 Hiromi Kobayashi ... 37-34--71 Carolyn Hill ... 37-34--71 Gail Graham ... 37-34--71 Allison Finney ... 36-35--71 Cindy Figg-Currier ... 36-35--71 Michelle Estill ... 36-35--71 Beth Daniel ... 35-36--71 Michiko Hattori ... 36-35--71 Wendy Ward ... 35-36--71 Kim Saiki ... 37-34--71 Cathy Mockett ... 35-36--71 Lisa Kiggens ... 37-34--71 Cristie Kerr ... 35-36--71 Moira Dunn ... 35-36--71 Luciana Bemvenuti ... 37-34--71 Hollis Stacy ... 36-36--72 Patty Sheehan ... 35-37--72 Kris Monaghan ... 35-37--72 Laurel Kean ... 36-36--72 Cathy Johnston-Forbes ... 37-35--72 Nancy Harvey ... 36-36--72 Jane Crafter ... 38-34--72 Tina Barrett ... 36-36--72 Donna Andrews ... 34-38--72

Ikuyo Shiotani ... 36-36--72 Michie Ohba ... 35-37--72 Mayumi Murai ... 36-36--72 Karen Weiss ... 37-35--72 Shani Waugh ... 36-36--72 Denise Killeen ... 36-36--72 Renee Heiken ... 37-35--72 Vicki Goetze ... 37-35--72 Amy Fruhwirth ... 37-35--72 Kristi Coats ... 36-36--72 Kim Williams ... 35-38--73 Robin Walton ... 37-36--73 Alice Miller ... 36-37--73 Jenny Lidback ... 37-36--73 Chris Johnson ... 37-36--73 Jane Geddes ... 35-38--73 Vicki Fergon ... 36-37--73 Karen Davies ... 36-37--73 Elaine Crosby ... 37-36--73 Sharon Barrett ... 37-36--73 Michele Redman ... 36-37--73 Catrin Nilsmark ... 37-36--73 Kathryn Marshall ... 37-36--73 Mayumi Hirase ... 36-37--73 Rachel Hetherington ... 37-36--73 Lisa Hackney ... 36-37--73 Smriti Mehra ... 34-39--73 Loretta Alderete ... 36-38--74 Mary Beth Zimmerman ... 39-35--74 Sherri Turner ... 37-37--74 Kris Tschetter ... 36-38--74 Sherri Steinhauer ... 37-37--74 Pearl Sinn ... 36-38--74 Cindy Schreyer ... 39-35--74 Amy Read ... 36-38--74 Caroline Pierce ... 37-37--74 Terry-Jo Myers ... 37-37--74 Missie McGeorge ... 38-36--74 Patti Liscio ... 35-39--74 Janice Gibson ... 36-38--74 Jill Briles-Hinton ... 36-38--74 Kim Bauer ... 35-39--74 Jody Anschutz ... 37-37--74 Marnie McGuire ... 38-36--74 Charlotta Sorenstam ... 36-38--74 Jill McGill ... 38-36--74 Mardi Lunn ... 36-38--74 Carin Hj Koch ... 37-37--74

Wendy Doolan ... 37-37--74 Helen Dobson ... 37-37--74 Lenore Rittenhouse ... 36-39--75 Susie Redman ... 36-39--75 Melissa McNamara ... 38-37--75 Stephanie Maynor ... 37-38--75 Penny Hammel ... 36-39--75 Ellie Gibson ... 36-39--75 Stephanie Farwig ... 38-37--75 Mitzi Edge ... 38-37--75 Brandie Burton ... 38-37--75 Missie Berteotti ... 39-36--75 Eva Dahllof ... 39-36--75 Akane Ohshiro ... 38-37--75 Suzuko Maeda ... 37-38--75 Debbi Koyama ... 38-37--75 Alison Nicholas ... 39-36--75 Catriona Matthew ... 37-38--75 Alicia Dibos ... 36-39--75 Stefania Croce ... 39-36--75 Sue Thomas ... 36-40--76 Katie Peterson-Parker ... 36-40--76 Nanci Bowen ... 37-39--76 Annette DeLuca ... 38-38--76 Julie Brand ... 39-37--76 Suzanne Strudwick ... 38-38--76 Julie Piers ... 37-39--76 Joanne Morley ... 38-38--76 Becky Iverson ... 37-39--76 Jennifer Wyatt ... 38-39--77 Nancy Scranton ... 39-38--77 Aki Takamura ... 38-39--77 Kaori Harada ... 38-39--77 Vickie Odegard ... 40-37--77 Pamela Kometani ... 39-38--77 Laura Brown ... 37-40--77 Anna Acker-Macosko ... 38-39--77 Kathy Postlewait ... 39-39--78 Kate Hughes ... 37-41--78 Michelle Dobek ... 40-38--78 Susan Veasey ... 37-41--78 Jackie Gallagher-Smith ... 40-38--78 Anne Marie Palli ... 41-38--79 Lori West ... 42-38--80 Shirley Furlong ... 42-38--80 Laurie Brower ... 38-44--82 Akiko Fukushima ... WD