Big hitting trio top leaderboard

After coming up just short last week, Pat Hurst was back atop the leaderboard today at the LPGA Michelob Light Classic in suburban St. Louis.

Hurst shot a 5-under-par 67 to share the first-round lead of the 54-hole event with Kristi Albers and Rachel Hetherington. Three other players were at 4-under and three more were at 3-under.

''I hit consistently out there and I really only missed a couple shots,'' Hurst said.

Annika Sorenstam's home-field advantage - she's won this tournament three straight years and four of the last five - was essentially wiped away by the fact that the tourney has changed locations, moving to Fox Run Golf Club after six years at Forest Hills Country Club.

Sorenstam shot even-par 72. She was at 2-under before bogeying consecutive holes at No. 14 and 15, then missing short putts the final three holes.

''I really didn't get off to the start I wanted to,'' she said. ''It was tough to make a putt out there today.''

Long hitters were faring well at the 6,452-yard course. Hurst ranks eighth in driving distance. Sally Dee, the tour's third-longest hitter, was a stroke back at 4-under. Also at 4-under were Rosie Jones and Lorie Kane. Jones was at 6-under before a double-bogey on No. 18.

But Hurst said it was her short game, not the driver, that saved the day.

''Today was more my putting - I made a lot of 20-footers,'' she said.

Hurst, has won once this year, finished second four times, and is fifth on the money list with $644,353. She was seeking redemption after losing in a playoff to 19-year-old rookie Dorothy Delasin in last week's Giant Eagle Classic. Delasin shot an even-par 72 Friday.

Albers has won once in her 14-year career. She three-putted just once and needed only one putt on 10 holes.

Hetherington, a fourth-year player from Australia, has been inconsistent this year. She's finished in the top 10 three times and earned $218,560 (29th on the tour), but missed the cut five times.

''Mentally, some weeks I focus better than others,'' she said. ''Usually, the tougher the course, the better I play.''

Not that Fox Run was playing that tough. About one-third of the players were even-par or better in the first round. Hurst credited recent rains for keeping scores low.

''When the ball is hitting the greens, it's not moving that much,'' she said.

If Sorenstam rallies to win, she'll grab an obscure piece of history, joining Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen and Laura Davies as the only professional golfers to win the same tournament in four consecutive years.

Sorenstam has already won five times this year. So has Karrie Webb, the tour's leading money winner, who also shot a 72.

The winner earns $120,000.

Divots: Lingering injuries forced two top players to withdraw. Dottie Pepper is still bothered by a back injury suffered in the second round of the U.S. Women's Open last month. Rookie Grace Park continues to suffer from a pulled rib muscle. Both will also miss the du Maurier Classic next week in Aylmer, Canada. ... Albers' husband, Fred, is a native of St. Louis and is caddying for her this weekend. She said he caddies one tournament a year. ... Debbie Williams, a 40-year-old tour rookie, was at 3-under, her first sub-par round of the year.

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