Amy Benz has
more on her mind than winning her first tournament in 17 years on the LPGA Tour.
There's also keeping her exempt status.
"The
possibility of losing my card was an eye-opener," said Benz, who along with Lisa
Kiggens shot 5-under-par 67s Thursday for a piece of the first-round lead of the
$775,000 First Union Betsy King Classic at the par-72, 6,085-yard Berkleigh Country
Club.
Benz
ranks No. 109 on the 1999 money list with $57,973 in earnings. She has to finish
in the top 90 to receive exempt status for next year. The first place check is
worth $116,250.
"Naturally,
that's really been on my mind," Benz said. "I'll do anything to avoid having to
go to Q School."
Benz credited a new pre-shot routine for her improved play. She also says she
has rededicated herself to the game.
"I
went through that stage where I was burned out," Benz said. I didn't want to be
that way. I still have the desire. Hopefully I can get my first win. Even if I
don't, I feel like I've had a successful career out here.
The 37-year-old resident of Boca Raton, Fla., overcame a slow start to record
seven birdies before failing to get up and down on the closing hole. She had sole
possession of the lead until she bogied the par 5, 475-yard 18th hole.
"I've been around long
enough to know this is only Thursday and there's a long way to go. This round
was a bonus," said Benz, who also shared the first round lead before fading in
the rain-shortened City of Hope Myrtle Beach Classic in May.
Kiggens is another player unfamiliar with the lead since posting her only career
win in the 1994 Rochester International. The 27-year-old Bakersfield, Calif.,
resident used a marvelous short game to save par on the first four holes.
"When I came off four,
I said to my caddy, 'Wouldn't it be nice to hit a green?"' Kiggens said.
Once she got untracked,
Kiggens hit 13 of the remaining 14 greens in regulation. The one miss resulted
in an unplayable lie and her lone bogey on the par-4, 11th hole.
Kiggens drained birdie putts of 25 and 20 feet to get rolling and did not have
to sink anything longer than five feet on her four birdies on the back side.
"I don't know if I'm a
good frontrunner or not because I haven't been there enough," Kiggens said. "We'll
find out. I'm just going to wing it."
Mi Hyun Kim of Korea was in sole possession of third place following a bogey-free
round of 68.
Hall
of Famer Betsy King, Jenny Lidback, Muffin Spencer-Devlin and Carin Koch were
two shots back at 69. Only 17 players were under par in the opening round.
Only 27 of the top 50 money
winners on the LPGA Tour are participating in the last full field event of the
season. Among the notables not competing are two-time champion Annika Sorenstam,
Karrie Webb, Juli Inkster, Laura Davies and Nancy Lopez.
"The
big names aren't here, but there is so much depth on tour you still have to play
exceptionally well for four days to win," said Benz, who was runner-up in the
1996 ShopRite LPGA in Atlantic City and the 1992 Sara Lee Classic, where she closed
with a career-best 63 to force a playoff with Brandie Burton.
Se Ri Pak, the leading money winner in the field, had a 74 and defending champion
Rachel Hetherington struggled to a four-over 76.
Hall of Famer Beth Daniel, Lorie Kane, Sara Sanders, Suzie Ginter, Caryn Louw,
Marissa Baena and Joanne Morley were grouped at 70 and Sophie Gustafson, Catriona
Matthew and Michelle Estill were the only other players under par as bitterly
cold weather and damp course conditions kept the scoring down in the morning rounds.
Spencer-Devlin, seeking
her first win since 1989, shot a 69 even though she was so bundled up. "I felt
like the Michelin man out there most of the day," she said.
"The
course is playing much longer than it has in the past," said Lidback. "It really
hasn't dried out since the rain Monday. Factor in the cold, and I'd say there
was a full club difference on many shots."
Afternoon conditions improved greatly and the scores reflected that.
"When you're cold, you're cold.
It makes everything a little bit tougher. You have to convince yourself to hang
in there and be patient," said Lidback, who added that she rather enjoys not seeing
a horde of players at 65 for a change.
"The
ball won't go as far in the cold, but it's the same for everyone," Kiggens said.
