Maria Hjorth leads with record round

Sweden's Maria Hjorth shot a course-record 7-under 64 Friday to take a three-stroke lead after the opening round of the John Q. Hammons Hotel Classic.

A member of the losing European Solheim Cup team last week, Hjorth had an eagle and seven birdies at Cedar Ridge Country Club to beat the course record of 65, set in the first round last year by Christina Kim and matched in the third round by Dorothy Delasin.

Karine Icher and Michelle Ellis were tied for second after opening 67s. Defending champion Annika Sorenstam had an inconsistent round and finished in a three-way tie for fourth at 68. Paula Creamer, the 19-year-old rookie who led the U.S. team to a 15 1/2 -12 1/2 victory at Crooked Stick in Carmel, Ind., opened with a 69.

Hjorth said she's been playing well and hopes the solid play will carry through the tournament.

``I've been playing really well last couple of months,'' she said. ``Of course, it inspires you, you go out there and you really want to perform even better because of the loss last week. You still have to go out and do what's required. ``

Hjorth started on the back nine and picked up her first birdie on her third hole. After a bogey at No. 13, she reached a greenside bunker of the par-5 14th in two shots and holed the chip for an eagle. She went on to birdie two more holes on her first nine, and added four birdies and a bogey on her back nine.

Wet conditions from rain early in the week left balls muddy, and even with the preferred-lie rule in effect, course conditions made for a rough day, Hjorth said.

``I knew it was possible to shoot a decent round, but it's still tough out there,'' she said. ``The ball doesn't roll at all. It just stops where you carry it.''

Sorenstam, who won last year at Cedar Ridge and won at Tulsa Country Club in 2002, also started on the back nine, but she didn't find her rhythm until halfway through the round, when the sun finally broke through clouds.

She stumbled through her first nine holes and erased a score of 2 over with three straight birdies starting at No. 2.

``I've been there before,'' said Sorenstam, who chuckled over a scorecard that also included three bogeys. ``You've just got to keep on grinding. I proved it again to myself that you just can never give up.''

She completed her round with three birdies in the last four holes.

Creamer, who ranks No. 3 in the world, opened with a birdie at the 10th and reached 2 under with another birdie at the 13th. She gave both strokes back with bogeys at the 17th and third, but closed out the round with consecutive birdies at Nos. 8 and 9.

Icher, looking for her first LPGA Tour victory, rolled in birdie putts of 18, 15, 6 and 5 feet.

``I'm starting to get back in the swing of things and get back in the hunt,'' Ellis said.

 Maria Hjorth 33-31-64
 Michelle Ellis 34-33-67
 Karine Icher 34-33-67
 Rachel Hetherington 31-37-68
 Annika Sorenstam 32-36-68
 Diana D'Alessio 35-33-68
 Kris Tamulis 34-35-69
 Mi Hyun Kim 33-36-69
 Paula Creamer 35-34-69
 Jeong Jang 37-33-70
 Leta Lindley 37-33-70
 Liselotte Neumann 35-35-70
 Rosie Jones 34-36-70
 Laura Davies 35-35-70
 Dina Ammaccapane 36-34-70
 Giulia Sergas 34-37-71
 Maggie Will 36-35-71
 Marcy Hart 34-37-71
 Sherri Steinhauer 36-35-71
 Shi Hyun Ahn 36-35-71
 Jessica Reese 36-35-71
 Lee Ann Walker-Cooper 38-33-71
 Karen Weiss 34-37-71
 Catherine Cartwright 35-36-71
 Nicole Jeray 35-36-71
 Erica Blasberg 36-35-71
 Leslie Spalding 39-33-72
 Siew-Ai Lim 35-37-72
 Annie Young 37-35-72
 Naree Song 34-38-72
 Patricia Meunier-Lebouc 37-35-72
 Wendy Doolan 36-36-72
 Karen Stupples 37-35-72
 Christina Kim 35-37-72
 Hilary Lunke 37-35-72
 Jill McGill 40-32-72
 Michele Redman 38-34-72
 Stephanie Louden 34-38-72
 Lara Tadiotto 36-36-72
 Audra Burks 36-36-72
 Joanne Morley 37-36-73
 Ji Yeon Lee 36-37-73
 Jackie Gallagher-Smith 36-37-73
 Tracy Hanson 37-36-73
 Kristal Parker-Manzo 38-35-73
 Mardi Lunn 37-36-73
 Katherine Hull 38-35-73
 Meena Lee 36-37-73
 Heather Bowie 36-37-73
 Catriona Matthew 37-36-73
 Il Mi Chung 36-37-73
 Jimin Kang 34-39-73
 Karrie Webb 36-37-73
 Moira Dunn 35-38-73
 Dorothy Delasin 37-36-73
 Sophie Gustafson 35-38-73
 Jennifer Rosales 36-37-73
 A.J. Eathorne 38-35-73
 Brooke Tull 38-35-73
 Suzann Pettersen 35-38-73
 Cathy Johnston-Forbes 34-40-74
 Jamie Hullett 36-38-74
 Candie Kung 37-37-74
 Carin Koch 37-37-74
 Johanna Head 37-37-74
 Reilley Rankin 38-36-74
 Stacy Prammanasudh 35-39-74
 Brittany Lincicome 37-37-74
 Miriam Nagl 37-37-74
 Laurel Kean 39-35-74
 Tina Fischer 36-38-74
 Nanci Bowen 38-36-74
 Emily Bastel 38-36-74
 Yu Ping Lin 36-38-74
 Michelle Estill 37-37-74
 Cindy Figg-Currier 38-37-75
 Celeste Troche 39-36-75
 Beth Bader 37-38-75
 Tina Barrett 38-37-75
 Kris Tschetter 37-38-75
 Emilee Klein 35-40-75
 Silvia Cavalleri 38-37-75
 Candy Hannemann 37-38-75
 Helen Alfredsson 38-37-75
 Aree Song 38-37-75
 Joellyn Erdmann-Crooks 37-38-75
 Ashli Bunch 38-37-75
 Nadina Taylor 39-36-75
 Joanne Mills 41-35-76
 Nancy Harvey 37-39-76
 Hana Kim 35-41-76
 Kristen Samp 38-38-76
 Charlotta Sorenstam 37-39-76
 Eva Dahllof 39-37-76
 Sherri Turner 39-37-76
 Kathryn Marshall 36-40-76
 Nancy Scranton 39-37-76
 Becky Morgan 38-38-76
 Angela Stanford 40-36-76
 Becky Iverson 38-38-76
 Angela Jerman 39-37-76
 Stephanie George 38-38-76
 Marilyn Lovander 39-37-76
 Patricia Baxter-Johnson 37-39-76
 Young-A Yang 39-37-76
 a-Elizabeth Janangelo 35-41-76
 Jean Bartholomew 40-37-77
 Pearl Sinn-Bonanni 37-40-77
 Vikki Laing 37-40-77
 Angie Rizzo 38-39-77
 Lindsey Wright 39-38-77
 Isabelle Beisiegel 38-39-77
 Beth Allen 41-36-77
 Marisa Baena 39-38-77
 Brandie Burton 38-39-77
 Beth Bauer 38-39-77
 Kelli Kuehne 38-39-77
 Stacy Snider 39-38-77
 Kim Williams 37-40-77
 Jenna Daniels 42-35-77
 Penny Hammel 39-39-78
 Riko Higashio 42-36-78
 Malinda Johnson 38-40-78
 Shani Waugh 40-38-78
 Sae-Hee Son 42-36-78
 Michelle Simpson 38-40-78
 Mhairi McKay 42-37-79
 Jennifer Gleason 38-41-79
 Amy Hung 42-37-79
 Sung Ah Yim 37-42-79
 Young Jo 39-40-79
 Mikaela Parmlid 41-38-79
 Pamela Kerrigan 44-36-80
 Kate Golden 40-40-80
 Hee-Won Han 38-42-80
 Joo Mi Kim 44-36-80
 Dawn Coe-Jones 39-41-80
 Luciana Bemvenuti 40-41-81
 Heather Daly-Donofrio 36-45-81
 Janice Moodie 39-42-81
 Bernadette Luse 41-40-81
 Jordan Cherebetiu 43-38-81
 Katie Allison 40-42-82
 Aram Cho 45-39-84
    
    

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