Kim takes opening day honours

Mi-Hyun Kim had the hot putter Thursday in the LPGA Sybase Big Apple Classic. Suzy Whaley had the fans' support.

Kim made four birdie putts of 15 feet or longer in a 5-under-par 66 that gave her a one-stroke lead over Liz Earley and Silvia Cavalleri with eight players another shot back.

But it was Whaley's 69 that drew the most attention at Wykagyl Country Club.

The 36-year-old teaching pro from Avon, Conn., qualified last September for next week's Greater Hartford Open on the PGA Tour. She's using a sponsor's exemption at this LPGA event to get ready for her date with the men.

Even the announcer at the first tee got into the day's theme when he introduced Whaley.

"Let's have a warm welcome and best wishes for next week for Suzy Whaley," he said, bringing cheers, whistles and quite a bit of applause.

Whaley, who will play in a PGA Tour event two months after Annika Sörenstam competed in the Bank of America Colonial, said the support didn't stop there.

"Everyone was wishing me luck. I heard a lot of `You go, girl,' " she said, laughing. "You can never hear that enough. I play better with people getting involved. I like to interact with the crowd."

No one knows what kind of reception Whaley will receive next Thursday at the Tournament Players Club at River Highlands, a course that has consumed her thoughts for the last nine months.

"This was the first day I didn't think about the TPC. I stayed here," she said. "I stayed at this course every shot.

"I'm ready to go play there. I'm looking forward to it. I'm excited about it but I have to stay patient and let it get here."

This is the fourth LPGA event this year for Whaley, who played on the tour for a couple of years in the early 1990s. She missed two cuts and tied for 50th in her other starts, a far cry from her opening round here.

She hit 13 of 14 fairways and had three birdies on her back nine, including a two-putt from 35 feet on the closing par-5.

"I'm here to be competitive this week. My game is there," she said. "If I can hold up mentally and keep my emotions under control and stick to my game plan, I do feel I can be competitive here."

Kim, who hasn't missed a cut since June 2001, said she feels better after battling stomach problems since the Corning Classic in May.

"I don't care about making the cut, I care about finishing in the top 10 or top five," said Kim, 30th or higher in four of the six tournaments since Corning.

Earley is making her fourth start of the year. She finished tied for 72nd at the Giant Eagle and missed the cut the last two weeks.

Cavalleri, who birdied the par-5 18th, has missed the cut in eight of 12 events this year.

The group at 68 included Beth Daniel, who took the Canadian Women's Open last week to became at 46 the oldest winner in LPGA history.

"I thought I was going to be OK, but I did way too much this week," said Daniel, who had a 4-under 31 on a front nine that included two 30-foot birdie putts. "To show you how busy I was, I was in a laundromat in White Plains until 11 o'clock last night. It was a nice laundromat, though."

Divots: The other players at 68 were Julie Piers, Vicki Goetz-Ackerman, Emilee Klein, Carin Hoch, Hee-Won Han, Pamela Kerrigan and Jamie Hullett. ... Defending champion Gloria Park, who beat Han in a one-hole playoff, had a 73. ... Grace Park, second on the money list, opened with a 69. The only other players in the top 10 on the money list in the field are No. 8 Angela Stanford (70) and No. 9 Rachel Teske (73). ... Donna Andrews withdrew after 14 holes because of a bad back. She was 4 over.

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