Maria Hjorth
had a hole-in-one in a tournament- and course-record 64 today to overtake Karrie
Webb for the lead after two rounds of the LPGA Tournament of Champions.
Hjorth tied her career-best
with the round of 8-under that included two eagles and six birdies. Her 36-hole
total of 9-under 135 is three strokes ahead of Cindy Figg-Currier, who remained
second with a 71.
Webb, the first-round leader, shot a 74 and fell to 140, tied for third with Laura
Davies, who had a 68.
Hjorth's record-setting round fell on her 26th birthday.
"You
always want your birthday to be a great day, and I don't think it could be any
better than this," she said.
Hjorth sandwiched the hole-in-one between birdies on Nos. 13 and 15. On the 139-yard
14th, she hit a 9-iron that landed behind a bunker that obscured her view, but
the response of the gallery told her it was an ace. It was the third hole-in-one
of the tournament at the 6,231-yard Magnolia Grove Golf Course.
"It
was just a perfect 9-iron," said Hjorth, a native of Sweden. "It was going straight
at the hole, but you hit a lot of shots like that and they don't go in."
Figg-Currier couldn't match
Thursday's bogey-free round, but she did counter three bogeys with four birdies,
including a 20-foot putt from the fringe on the final hole.
Webb, the leading contender for player of the year honors and the Vare Trophy
for scoring average, had four bogeys and two birdies after an opening-round 66.
"I think Thursday
I played a lot smarter than I did today," Webb said. "For some reason, I just
didn't seem to be in the right place on the greens. I was just having a hard time
judging both the speed and the breaks.
"But
I'm just five shots behind with two rounds to go, and that's really nothing on
this golf course."
The tournament, sponsored by AFLAC, is a no-cut event featuring only winners of
LPGA events over the last three years and active members of the LPGA Hall of Fame.
The winner receives $122,000 from a total purse of $750,000.
DIVOTS:
Hjorth broke the 18-hole tournament record of 66 held by four players: Liselotte
Neumann and Pat Bradley in 1996, and Barb Mucha and Annika Sorenstam in 1997.
... Jackie Gallagher-Smith holed a 7-iron on the 155-yard 2nd hole Friday. Terry-Jo
Myers holed a 5-iron for an ace on the 155-yard 17th on Thursday. The tournament's
three aces further extends an LPGA Tour record to 36 holes-in-one this season.
