Saturday, February 20, 1999
George F. Lee, Star-Bulletin
Jackie Gallagher-Smith watches her putt miss the
cup on the ninth green during the second round
of the Hawaiian Ladies Open.
Crunch time
at Kapolei
Two very different golfers lead
By Bill Kwon
the Hawaiian Ladies Open
Star-BulletinIt shapes up to be a survival of the fittest in today's final round of the Sunrise Hawaiian Ladies Open at the Kapolei Golf Course.
In one corner is Michelle McGann, a diabetic who plans to take the next three weeks off because of an insulin transplant. In the other corner is Alison Nicholas, who played only 20 events worldwide last year because of pneumonia. She's still very cautious when the weather's bad because her resistance is still low.
Both are tied at 8-under 136 after 36 holes.
That's where the similarity ends. McGann is 5-foot-11 and a long belter off the tee. Nicholas will be giving away 11 inches in height and at least 22 yards in distance after each drive.
Nicholas, though, isn't giving an inch to McGann or any of the other leading challengers for the $97,500 top prize in the LPGA Tour's fifth stop this year.
"Pound for pound, I'm probably as long," said Nicholas, who sometimes thinks she's Nicklaus.
Having played with Laura Davies since they were amateurs back in England, Nicholas is used to keeping up with big hitters. It's just that she has to take more steps to keep up with them down the fairways.
Asked if her driver is of extra length, the Brit, who'll be 37 in two weeks, wise-cracked, "I'm so short, it seems longer."
But McGann isn't falling for Alison's self-deprecating humor. McGann and everyone else on the LPGA Tour know what a giant-killer Nicholas can be. Just ask Nancy Lopez, whose heart was broken in the 1997 U.S. Women's Open by the diminutive Brit.
"I've played a lot with her," said McGann about playing with Nicholas in the final threesome today. McGann, winless last year, added a 69 yesterday to her opening-round 67.
They were grouped just last week and McGann said she was talking Alison's head off.
McGann had an enjoyable first two rounds at Kapolei, playing with Vickie Odegard and Pat Hurst -- the hottest scoring group both days.
"We had a lot of birdies in our group. When people are playing well, you tend to feed on that a lot. It was fun to watch the ball go in the hole," McGann said.
On the second nine, though, only McGann's ball was dropping. Odegard double-bogeyed her final hole -- the par-4 ninth -- and Hurst ended with a 71 to join five others at 140, including 1996 HLO winner Meg Mallon, who has never had a bad day at Kapolei.
"I just played well today," said Nicholas, who has never finished better than 20th in five previous appearances here.
Nicholas went on a birdie streak that would have made David Duval envious. She dropped putts of 12, 15, 15, 8, 8 and 15 feet in birdieing holes 5, 6 and 7 as well as 10 through 12.
What was she thinking while in this zone?
"Just finishing the hole and going on to the next one, and just enjoying it," she said.
"I've been putting quite well. Today, they all went in," added Nicholas, whose 6-under-66 yesterday, under windy and overcast conditions, missed her career low round by one stroke.
"It was blowing pretty good out there," said McGann. "There were a lot of crosswinds."
Nicholas is looking forward to playing with McGann.
"Michelle's a great gal," she said. "It will be a healthy competition."
Well, as healthy as the two can be anyway.
Mardi Lunn, whose career-low 66 led the first round, was two back of the co-leaders along with Cindy McCurdy, both at 138. Odegard and Michele Redmen were next at 139.
A costly double-bogey 6 at No. 11 -- her second hole of the day -- cost Lunn the chance to share the lead. It's the only blemish on her scorecard over the first 36 holes.
"I played pretty solid except for that one shot. I didn't make any putts like I did yesterday," said Lunn.
Seventy-two players survived the cut, which was 2-over-par 146.
The two biggest casualties were Se Ri Pak, the 1998 LPGA rookie of the year, and defending champion Wendy Ward, who missed by one stroke after shooting a 74. Pak had a 75--148 and failed to survive the cut here for the second straight year.
"I had a lot of birdie putts, but couldn't make them," said Pak, who's quickly picking up on the English language. Pak said she feels no pressure to win, even though so much is expected of her by the Korean media following her every move.
"This is only my second time in every tournament. I need some more time ... two, three years more," said Pak, who won't be 22 until late September. "I just want to finish in the top 10 every tournament. That is my goal every time I play."
NOTEBOOK: Cindy Flom shot a 69 to be in a 10-way tie at 142, but Pam Kometani and Lenore Rittenhouse, two other players with Hawaii ties, failed to advance to today's final round. Kometani shot 76--153, Rittenhouse 83--157... Leta Lindley aced the 140-yard eighth hole, using a 7-iron. It's the first tournament hole-in-one at Kapolei and only the second in the 13-year history of the Hawaiian Ladies Open. The only other ace -- also on hole No. 8 -- was recorded by Nancy Ramsbottom at Ko Olina in 1992. The ace was worth $1,000 to Lindley, who missed the cut with a 77--152... The par-3 holes -- the fifth and 12th -- played under par yesterday.
Hawaiian Ladies Open
At Kapolei
Second round
Par 72
Alison Nicholas -- 70-66--136
Michelle McGann -- 67-69--136
Cindy McCurdy -- 68-70--138
Mardi Lunn -- 66-72--138
Michele Redman -- 68-71--139
Vickie Odegard -- 68-71--139
Jan Stephenson -- 71-69--140
Deb Richard -- 71-69--140
Meg Mallon -- 70-70--140
Tracy Hanson -- 70-70--140
Michelle Estill -- 69-71--140
Pat Hurst -- 69-71--140
Annette DeLuca -- 69-71--140
Maria Hjorth -- 68-72--140
Vicki Fergon -- 73-68--141
Kristi Albers -- 72-69--141
Lorie Kane -- 72-69--141
Janice Moodie -- 71-70--141
Helen Dobson -- 71-70--141
Catriona Matthew -- 70-71--141
Susie Redman -- 73-69--142
Liselotte Neumann -- 73-69--142
Cindy Flom -- 73-69--142
Hee-Won Han -- 73-69--142
Jenny Lidback -- 71-71--142
Yu-Chen Huang -- 71-71--142
Moira Dunn -- 70-72--142
Nancy Ramsbottom -- 69-73--142
Tina Barrett -- 69-73--142
Natsuko Noro -- 69-73--142
Jane Crafter -- 72-71--143
Suzanne Strudwick -- 72-71--143
Sue Thomas -- 71-72--143
Sherri Steinhauer -- 71-72--143
Kim Saiki -- 71-72--143
Kelly Robbins -- 71-72--143
Nanci Bowen -- 70-73--143
Aki Takamura -- 70-73--143
Cristie Kerr -- 70-73--143
Chris Johnson -- 69-74--143
Nancy Harvey -- 74-70--144
Dale Eggeling -- 74-70--144
Cathy Johnston-Forbes -- 73-71--144
Kris Tschetter -- 72-72--144
Hollis Stacy -- 72-72--144
Charlotta Sorenstam -- 71-73--144
Laura Philo -- 71-73--144
Leigh Ann Mills -- 71-73--144
Kate Golden -- 69-75--144
Connie Masterson -- 74-71--145
Marianne Morris -- 73-72--145
Mayumi Hirase -- 73-72--145
Stephanie Lowe -- 72-73--145
Gail Graham -- 72-73--145
Dana Dormann -- 72-73--145
Catrin Nilsmark -- 72-73--145
A.J. Eathorne -- 72-73--145
Diane Barnard -- 72-73--145
Anna Acker-Macosko -- 72-73--145
Kaori Harada -- 70-75--145
Emilee Klein -- 70-75--145
Christy Erb -- 70-75--145
Hiromi Kobayashi -- 69-76--145
Heather Daly-Donofrio -- 69-76--145
Marnie McGuire -- 76-70--146
Jean Zedlitz -- 75-71--146
Jackie Gallagher-Smith -- 75-71--146
Laura Davies -- 74-72--146
Kelli Kuehne -- 74-72--146
Shelley Wendels -- 73-73--146
Kathryn Marshall -- 73-73--146
Yuri Fudo -- 72-74--146
Jennifer Feldott -- 71-75--146
Ae-Sook Kim -- 71-75--146
Ellie Gibson -- 69-77--146
Mitzi Edge -- 69-77--146
Dawn Coe-Jones -- 69-77--146
Wendy Doolan -- 68-78--146Failed to qualify
Rachel Hetherington -- 77-70--147
Allison Finney -- 74-73--147
Leslie Spalding -- 74-73--147
Jean Bartholomew -- 74-73--147
Muffin Spencer-Devlin -- 73-74--147
Wendy Ward -- 73-74--147
Sophie Gustafson -- 73-74--147
Akiko Fukushima -- 73-74--147
Joanne Morley -- 72-75--147
Mi Hyun Kim -- 72-75--147
Stefania Croce -- 70-77--147
Susan Ginter -- 75-73--148
Nancy Scranton -- 73-75--148
Sara Sanders -- 73-75--148
Se Ri Pak -- 73-75--148
Amy Benz -- 77-72--149
Julie Piers -- 75-74--149
Amy Fruhwirth -- 75-74--149
Jane Geddes -- 74-75--149
Elaine Crosby -- 74-75--149
Ji Hyun Suh -- 74-75--149
Lisa Hackney -- 74-75--149
Harumi Sakagami -- 73-76--149
Lora Fairclough -- 72-77--149
Nadine Ash -- 72-77--149
Smriti Mehra -- 77-73--150
Ok-Hee Ku -- 76-74--150
Amy Read -- 75-75--150
Anne Marie Palli -- 75-75--150
Karen Weiss -- 75-75--150
Luciana Bemvenuti -- 75-75--150
Lisa Kiggens -- 74-76--150
Asa Gottmo -- 74-76--150
Young-Me Lee -- 74-76--150
Shani Waugh -- 73-77--150
Jill McGill -- 73-77--150
Penny Hammel -- 78-73--151
Karen Stupples -- 77-74--151
Eva Dahllof -- 77-74--151
Laura Baugh -- 76-75--151
Denise Killeen -- 76-75--151
Nayoko Yoshikawa -- 74-77--151
Carin Koch -- 74-77--151
Nicole Jeray -- 74-77--151
Jody Anschutz -- 80-72--152
Missie McGeorge -- 78-74--152
Debbi Koyama -- 77-75--152
Karen Noble -- 77-75--152
Leta Lindley -- 75-77--152
Karen Lunn -- 81-72--153
Ashli Price-Bunch -- 78-75--153
Barb Whitehead -- 77-76--153
Pamela Kometani -- 77-76--153
Robin Walton -- 77-77--154
Erika Wicoff -- 76-78--154
Elizabeth Makings -- 75-79--154
Lori Atsedes -- 77-78--155
Liz Earley -- 78-78--156
Sherri Turner -- 77-79--156
Melissa McNamara -- 77-79--156
Dina Ammaccapane -- 77-79--156
Kristi Coats -- 76-80--156
Lenore Rittenhouse -- 74-83--157
Yuri Kawanami -- 82-76--158
Mhairi McKay -- DQ
