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Trio leads at LPGA

Laura Davies reacts after missing a putt on the 15th green of the LPGA Championships at Bulle Rock. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press
Laura Davies reacts after missing a putt on the 15th green of the LPGA Championships at Bulle Rock. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

Annika Sorenstam turned her head and studied the large leaderboard behind the green on her last hole Thursday in the LPGA Championship at Havre de Grace, Md., seeing her name in a familiar position at the top.

It didn’t stay there long, but it was never far away.

Natalie Gulbis rose to the occasion playing with Sorenstam by closing with five straight birdies, including an 18-foot putt on the ninth hole for a 5-under-par 67. She shared the lead with Laura Diaz and big-hitting Laura Davies, who bullied the par 5s at Bulle Rock and nearly reached the 596-yard 11th hole in two.

Bulle Rock delivered plenty of excitement in sauna-like conditions, with a celebration for Karrie Webb as the newest member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, and a celebration of youth. Eighteen-year-old Paula Creamer birdied four straight holes late in her round for a 68, and 15-year-old Michelle Wie overcame a sick stomach for a 69.

Sorenstam wound up with a bogey-free 68, breaking her LPGA Tour record with her 12th consecutive round in the 60s.

Wendy Ward, from Edwall, Wash., shot a first-round 2-over 74.

Tracy Hanson, from Rathrdum, Idaho, finished with a 76.

PGA Tour

The rush of excitement over the return of golf’s biggest names to the historic Congressional Country Club turned out to be a mere postscript to a landmark day. Matt Gogel, ranked No. 170 on the PGA Tour money list, teed off in the first group at 7 a.m. and set a Blue Course record with an 8-under 63 before lightning halted play in the Booz Allen Classic in Bethesda, Md.

Playing while the heat and humidity were oppressive but not yet stifling, Gogel birdied eight of his last 13 holes in a bogey-free round to take a three-shot lead over Lee Westwood, Brett Wetterich, Fredrik Jacobson and Kevin Stadler. Stadler was the only one of the four yet to complete the round, having finished 14 holes when play was stopped for the day at 5:45 p.m.

Pullman native Kirk Triplett finished at 2-under 69.

Golden Bear may not be done yet

Tournament sponsors might have spoken too soon when they said this week’s Champions Tour stop would be the last tournament Jack Nicklaus plays on American soil.

The Golden Bear made it clear in Overland Park, Kan., that maybe – maybe – this weekend’s Bayer Advantage Classic will not mark his exit.

“I finished tournament golf basically last week,” Nicklaus said, a day before the start of play in the Bayer Advantage Classic.

Last week, the 65-year-old Nicklaus played in the Memorial in Ohio in what might have been his last PGA Tour start in the United States.

“I always have the right to go back to (the Memorial) if I want to, and I may do that someday. I may go back some time because I’d really like to have my last round somewhere, probably at (the Memorial). I could have said that last week, I suppose.”

Clarke pulls out of U.S. Open

Darren Clarke withdrew from next week’s U.S. Open to be with his wife, who is undergoing cancer treatment. This will be the first major he has missed since 1998.

Clarke was replaced in the 156-man field by Stanford golf coach Conrad Ray, the first alternate from the sectional qualifier in Tarzana, Calif.