Janice Gibson, never a winner or even a leader in nine years as a pro, shot a 6-under-par 66 Friday for her lowest round ever and a one-stroke lead after the first round of the inaugural Children's Medical Center LPGA Classic.
Gibson, 33, had missed the cut in her last three tournaments. Her round was anything but routine.She had nine birdies, six pars and three bogeys on the Jack Nicklaus-designed Country Club of the North while taking a one-stroke lead over native Peruvian Alicia Dibos. Another shot back were Jill Briles-Hinton, Barb Thomas and Rosie Jones.
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At ADA, Mich., before the opening round of the Senior PGA First of America Classic, the tour's leading money winner, Lee Trevino, predicted a score of 6-under could win the $650,000 tournament.
Perhaps Trevino should revise that prediction because four players - Isao Aoki, Jim Albus, Graham Marsh and Jimmy Powell - fired 6-under 66s Friday to lead by just one stroke over the threesome of Larry Mowry, Tom Wargo and Dave Stockton.
Aoki's 66 included an eagle on the 534-yard par-5 seventh hole, a hole he had not seen until he played it Friday morning.
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At Woburn, England, American Dottie Mochrie, putting to good use some tips from Paul Azinger, shot a 7-under-par 66 but trailed Sweden's Liselotte Neumann by one stroke at the halfway mark of the $500,000 British Women's Open.
Mochrie, who shot a 73 in the first round, had a two-round total of 139.
Neumann, winner of the U.S. Open in 1988 for her first career victory on the LPGA Tour, led the field with a 138 after a bogey-free second round of 67 that included six birdies. Four came in the last six holes, including putts from 25 feet and 18 feet.
Just two strokes behind Neumann was tournament favorite Laura Davies of England, who fired a 66 on Friday for a 140.