Friday, February 19, 1999

By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
Michelle McGann watches her putt for birdie on the
18th green in yesterday's first round.

Lunn’s 66
leads at Kapolei

The Australian golfer
is shooting for her first
LPGA Tour victory

By Bill Kwon
Star-Bulletin

Propelled by a career-low round 66, Mardi Lunn hopes it'll lead to her first LPGA Tour victory in the 54-hole Sunrise Hawaiian Ladies Open.

Lunn, one of yesterday's late finishers, took a one-stroke lead over Michelle McGann going into today's second round at the par-72 Kapolei Golf Course.

"It's the best start I've had in ages," Lunn said about her 1999 getaway. She made the cut in the first four tournaments of the year.

"I hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens. That's the key," said the 31-year-old Aussie, whose previous best finish was third place. Her closest brush to a bogey yesterday came on the first hole, when she needed a five-foot putt to save par. She had missed the green from a bad lie in the rough.

Meanwhile, if McGann isn't pumped by her opening-round 67, she soon will be -- literally.

A diabetic, McGann will take the next three weeks off for a surgical procedure to install an insulin pump that calls for an incision in her stomach to regulate her sugar intake.

"I could have gone on it two years ago. It just didn't sound right. I think the time is right now," she said.

McGann was convinced after talking to the reigning Miss America, Nicole Johnston, who underwent the same procedure.

A seven-time winner, McGann failed to add to her victory total last year and blamed a lack of confidence, in large part because of how she felt physically.

"It was a tough year. I lost a lot of confidence in myself. My confidence has a lot to do with my blood sugar (count). I'm hoping I can keep a level attitude instead of getting down so quickly. This game has enough ups and downs as it is."

It was no problem yesterday for McGann, who nibbles on sweets during her round to keep her sugar -- and confidence -- level up.

Her only two bogeys came after she three-putted from 15 feet each time.

"The greens were quick and I lost a little focus," she said.

In a five-way tie at 68 were Michele Redman, Chris McCurdy, Wendy Doolan, Maria Hjorth and Vickie Odegard. The five combined have only two victories -- one each by Redman and McCurdy.

Hjorth (pronounced Yorth) is one of eight Swedes in the tournament along with last week's winner Catrin Nilsmark.

"I was trying to be relaxed. I've been putting too much pressure on myself, trying to save pars instead of making birdies," Hjorth said. "I've been hitting good drives, so I hit a lot of wedges."

McCurdy, whose only tour victory came in 1993, was 5 under before bogeys on No. 15 and 16. But she birdied the par-5 17th to finish with a 68, her best round in 10 previous HLO appearances under her maiden name of Schreyer.

Redman missed only two greens and her 68 could have been a lot lower, she said, citing four birdie putts under 10 feet that didn't drop.

"I hit a lot of good shots. When you're hitting it pretty good, it doesn't bother you," Redman said about the wind that picked up for the late afternoon players.

Se Ri Pak, the 1998 rookie of the year who won two majors, disappointed a contingent of Korean media following her by double-bogeying the 15th hole and then bogeying the par-3 16th in shooting a 73.

Pak flew the green on her second shot at 15 and her third shot from a downhill lie just made the fringe. She then putted 10 feet by the hole and couldn't make the uphill come-backer.

She could be in danger of missing the HLO cut for the second year in a row.

Cindy Flom, one of three golfers with ties to Hawaii, broke her 6-iron as her shaft hit a tree trunk on her second shot of the day in bogeying the par-4 10th hole. She had a 73, the favorite score on opening day.

Also among the 20 players shooting a 73, besides Pak and Flom, was defending champion Wendy Ward.

Hawaii's Lenore Rittenhouse shot a 75, while Pam Kometani had a 77.

With 65 golfers shooting par 72 or better, the projected cut for the low 70 players and ties could be 145 after today's second round.

Tomorrow's final round will start at 8 a.m. with the leaders going off around 10. First place is worth $97,500.

Hawaiian Ladies Open

At Kapolei

First round Par 72

Mardi Lunn, 34-32--66 Michelle McGann, 33-34--67 Cindy McCurdy, 32-36--68 Michele Redman, 35-33--68 Vickie Odegard, 34-34--68 Maria Hjorth, 35-33--68 Wendy Doolan, 34-34--68 Nancy Ramsbottom, 34-35--69 Hiromi Kobayashi, 35-34--69 Chris Johnson, 33-36--69 Ellie Gibson, 33-36--69 Michelle Estill, 34-35--69 Mitzi Edge, 35-34--69 Dawn Coe-Jones, 36-33--69 Tina Barrett, 36-33--69 Natsuko Noro, 37-32--69 Pat Hurst, 34-35--69 Kate Golden, 35-34--69 Annette DeLuca, 35-34--69 Heather Daly-Donofrio, 33-36--69 Meg Mallon, 34-36--70 Nanci Bowen, 36-34--70 Aki Takamura, 35-35--70 Alison Nicholas, 34-36--70 Catriona Matthew, 35-35--70 Kaori Harada, 36-34--70 Emilee Klein, 36-34--70 Cristie Kerr, 35-35--70 Tracy Hanson, 33-37--70 Christy Erb, 34-36--70 Moira Dunn, 35-35--70 Stefania Croce, 36-34--70 Sue Thomas, 37-34--71 Jan Stephenson, 36-35--71 Sherri Steinhauer, 36-35--71 Deb Richard, 34-37--71 Jenny Lidback, 36-35--71 Charlotta Sorenstam, 36-35--71 Kim Saiki, 37-34--71 Kelly Robbins, 34-37--71 Laura Philo, 34-37--71 Janice Moodie, 37-34--71 Leigh Ann Mills, 37-34--71 Jennifer Feldott, 36-35--71 Helen Dobson, 35-36--71 Ae-Sook Kim, 35-36--71 Yu-Chen Huang, 34-37--71 Kris Tschetter, 36-36--72 Hollis Stacy, 36-36--72 Stephanie Lowe, 37-35--72 Gail Graham, 37-35--72 Dana Dormann, 37-35--72 Jane Crafter, 36-36--72 Kristi Albers, 36-36--72 Suzanne Strudwick, 38-34--72 Catrin Nilsmark, 39-33--72 Joanne Morley, 35-37--72 Mi Hyun Kim, 36-36--72 Lorie Kane, 36-36--72 Lora Fairclough, 36-36--72 A.J. Eathorne, 35-37--72 Diane Barnard, 36-36--72 Nadine Ash, 36-36--72 Anna Acker-Macosko, 35-37--72 Yuri Fudo, 35-37--72 Muffin Spencer-Devlin, 37-36--73 Nancy Scranton, 36-37--73 Susie Redman, 38-35--73 Liselotte Neumann, 36-37--73 Cathy Johnston-Forbes, 38-35--73 Cindy Flom, 37-36--73 Vicki Fergon, 38-35--73

Harumi Sakagami, 36-37--73 Shelley Wendels, 38-35--73 Shani Waugh, 35-38--73 Wendy Ward, 35-38--73 Sara Sanders, 37-36--73 Se Ri Pak, 36-37--73 Marianne Morris, 34-39--73 Jill McGill, 37-36--73 Kathryn Marshall, 37-36--73 Hee-Won Han, 36-37--73 Mayumi Hirase, 36-37--73 Sophie Gustafson, 34-39--73 Akiko Fukushima, 34-39--73 Lenore Rittenhouse, 35-39--74 Nancy Harvey, 40-34--74 Jane Geddes, 38-36--74 Allison Finney, 38-36--74 Dale Eggeling, 38-36--74 Laura Davies, 39-35--74 Elaine Crosby, 37-37--74 Nayoko Yoshikawa, 37-37--74 Connie Masterson, 38-36--74 Ji Hyun Suh, 37-37--74 Leslie Spalding, 37-37--74 Kelli Kuehne, 37-37--74 Carin Koch, 38-36--74 Lisa Kiggens, 36-38--74 Nicole Jeray, 37-37--74 Lisa Hackney, 39-35--74 Asa Gottmo, 35-39--74 Jean Bartholomew, 36-38--74 Young-Me Lee, 38-36--74 Amy Read, 38-37--75 Anne Marie Palli, 37-38--75 Susan Ginter, 38-37--75 Jean Zedlitz, 38-37--75 Karen Weiss, 38-37--75 Julie Piers, 36-39--75 Elizabeth Makings, 39-36--75 Leta Lindley, 38-37--75 Jackie Gallagher-Smith, 36-39--75 Amy Fruhwirth, 38-37--75 Luciana Bemvenuti, 38-37--75 Laura Baugh, 37-39--76 Erika Wicoff, 37-39--76 Mhairi McKay, 35-41--76 Marnie McGuire, 37-39--76 Denise Killeen, 36-40--76 Kristi Coats, 37-39--76 Ok-Hee Ku, 41-35--76 Barb Whitehead, 38-39--77 Robin Walton, 39-38--77 Sherri Turner, 37-40--77 Melissa McNamara, 37-40--77 Amy Benz, 38-39--77 Karen Stupples, 37-40--77 Debbi Koyama, 39-38--77 Karen Noble, 39-38--77 Smriti Mehra, 40-37--77 Pamela Kometani, 38-39--77 Rachel Hetherington, 39-38--77 Eva Dahllof, 37-40--77 Lori Atsedes, 39-38--77 Dina Ammaccapane, 39-38--77 Missie McGeorge, 38-40--78 Penny Hammel, 41-37--78 Ashli Price-Bunch, 39-39--78 Liz Earley, 41-37--78 Jody Anschutz, 42-38--80 Karen Lunn, 43-38--81 Yuri Kawanami, 41-41--82 Becky Iverson, 37-42--79 WD