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Monday, February 12, 2001

Kane hopes for
another win

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By Bill Kwon
Star-Bulletin

The LPGA Tour's movable feast shifts from the Big Island to Oahu's Kapolei Golf Course for the Cup Noodles Hawaiian Ladies Open starting Thursday.

But the cast of usual suspects picked to win the fourth tournament of the year remains the same -- Karrie Webb, Annika Sorenstam and Lorie Kane.

Lorie who?

Kane won the LPGA Takefuji Classic at the Kona Country Club last Saturday by overshadowing the top two women golfers in the world. But she admits she's not in their league.

Not yet.

"Probably (not until) I win 23 tournaments," said the 36-year-old Canadian from Prince Edward Island. "I'm close. I'm very close. But they raised the bar out here. They're two great players."

Kane's reference to 23 is the number of victories that both Webb and Sorenstam have won in their brief but remarkable careers.

They've already earned enough points to be inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame. All they need to do is bide their time and put in their minimum 10 years.

The victory at Kailua-Kona was only Kane's fourth. But she's admittedly a late bloomer.

"My mother can tell you, I've done everything late," Kane said. "I didn't move out of my parents' house until I was 30 and I didn't win my first tournament until I was 35."

But Kane is making up for lost time in a hurry.

After going winless in her first three full years on the tour, Kane won three times in 2000. And she's gaining confidence with every victory.

"I've never seen her play this well," said Sorenstam, runner-up at the LPGA Takefuji Classic for the second year in a row. "We all knew how good she was."

It also helped that there was a large contingent of Canadians at the Big Island tournament. It included her parents, Jack and Marilyn Kane, who watched her win from the gallery for the first time. They'll also be at Kapolei this week.

The 144-player field in the 54-hole tournament will also include defending champion Betsy King, another Hall of Famer, Patty Sheehan and 12 members of the Japan LPGA Tour.