Karrie Webb was just a birdie away from tying Danielle Ammaccapane for second place Saturday in the Kellogg-Keebler Classic behind tournament leader and rival Annika Sorenstam.
She didn’t get the birdie she needed on the 505-yard 18th hole but wasn’t that disappointed with her second straight 4-under-par 68. Webb stands six shots behind Sorenstam, who shot 67 Saturday after a 63 in Friday’s opening round.
“You can never say never,” Webb said, “I just want to go out and have a solid round tomorrow. I want to have a good attitude going into next week [LPGA Championship].”
Webb was treading water for most of her round at Stonebridge Country Club in Aurora. A 40-foot birdie putt on the par-4 16th hole and a 30-foot chip-in for birdie on the par-3 17th put her within reach of second place.
But her second shot on the last hole landed short and left of the green, leaving a tricky pitch. She left her third shot in the rough, just inches short of perfection. Her fourth landed in the fringe and rolled 10 feet past.
Then she rolled her par putt in the middle of the cup.
“I don’t think I could have gotten it up and down from where I was,” she said. “I was pretty dead.”
Change of mind: Funny how a bunch of birdies can change a golfer’s way of thinking.
Grace Park started the day wondering where she would be Sunday and ended up high on the leaderboard. An 8-under-par 64 will do that. Park, who shot even-par 72 on Friday, shot a 5-under 31 on the front nine.
“When I started the day, I wasn’t looking at the leaderboard,” Park said. “I was worried about shooting 2 under to make sure I made the cut. It was a great start, and I kept making birdies.”
Kristal Parker-Manzo was thinking birdies when she shot 6-under 30 on the front nine. She birdied the 10th hole to go 10-under for the tournament and into second place.
But the back nine was a nightmare for her. She had a double-bogey 7 on the 14th hole and a quadruple-bogey 8 on the 16th hole to finish with a 73.
Homecoming, sort of: LPGA rookie Candie Kung is no stranger to the Chicago area.
Last summer she spent two weeks playing tournament golf in the northern suburbs. She was runner-up in the Women’s Western Amateur at Exmoor Country Club and then won the United States Golf Association Women’s Amateur Public Links at Kemper Lakes.
`Normally, in match play, by the round of 16 I’m gone, ready to go home,” said Kung, who played 336 holes, including practice rounds, in 14 days here. “Those two weeks were special.”
Kung’s second round at Stonebridge was pretty special. She had seven birdies, an eagle, a double bogey and a bogey for a 6-under 66.
She wound up in a tie for seventh place at 7-under par.
Her double bogey on the 15th followed her eagle of the par-5 14th.
“I hit some pretty good shots except for the 15th hole,” said the 20-year-old Kung. “That was the only bad shot I hit off the tee, but unfortunately I was under the lip of the bunker. I hit that pretty good, toom but my third shot was totally gone.”
After winning the WAPL, Kung dropped out of USC to turn pro. “I’m happy,” she said. “I’m not a school person.”
Delay of game: LPGA rookie Natalie Gulbis was penalized two shots for slow play after her round. She shot a 75 to miss the cut.
Gulbis was playing with Nancy Lopez and Becky Iverson and the group was two holes behind. Gulbis was the only one in the group who was penalized.
“I think [the official] did it because I’m a rookie and he wanted to teach me a lesson,” said the 19-year-old Gulbis.
Tournament info
Where: Stonebridge Country Club, Aurora. The club is located off I-88. Exit at Rt. 59 and follow the signs.
When: The 54-hole tournament ends Sunday.
Purse: $1.2 million; $180,000 to the winner.
TV: ESPN2, 4-6 p.m. Sunday.
Tickets: $30 Sunday.
Children 15 or younger are admitted free with an adult.
In the bag: Pearl Sinn
Pearl Sinn is used to the questions about her “Me & You Tattoos” golf bag.
“Everybody asks about it,” said Sinn, who won the United States Golf Association’s Women’s Amateur Public Links championship in 1988 in Tulsa, Okla. (the location of the tournament as published has been corrected in this text).
“They are temporary tattoos for little kids. . . . I was supposed to wear one [Saturday], but I was afraid it wasn’t going to stay on in all this heat.”
A friend of Sinn’s owns the company.
“My bag was open this year and my friend said, `Why don’t we do something together,'” Sinn said.
Sinn often passes them out. They wash off.
“Parents love them,” she said.
Clubs: Katana driver, Taylor Made 3-wood, Callaway 4 and 7 woods. Cleveland irons, 4-through pitching wedge. Cleveland 52- and 56-degree wedges. Cleveland putter.
Ball: Callaway Hex Red.
Other stuff: A couple of sandwiches and energy bars, lip balm, rain cover. “I like to keep my bag clean,” she said.
Reid Hanley.
