By The Associated Press

SYLVANIA, Ohio – Birdie Kim took a solid first step toward proving her stunning U.S. Women’s Open win wasn’t a fluke.

Kim, two weeks removed from her dramatic win at Cherry Hills, shot a 6-under 65- her LPGA career low – to share the lead with Becky Morgan after the opening round of the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic on Thursday.

Kim’s 65 was three shots below her previous best on the tour.

She bogeyed her third hole of the day, then birdied seven of her final 13 holes.

Six of the birdies didn’t require a putt longer than 6 feet.

Pressel asks LPGA for age-limit exemption

SYLVANIA, Ohio – U.S. Women’s Open runner-up Morgan Pressel has asked the LPGA to waive its age minimum and allow the 17-year-old amateur to turn pro.

LPGA rules prohibit players from turning pro and making money on the tour until after their 18th birthday, unless a special exemption is granted.

Pressel will be a senior this fall at St. Andrew’s School in Boca Raton, Fla. She turns 18 next May.

Marsh shoots 64 to lead Senior Players

DEARBORN, Mich. – Graham Marsh took the lead with an 8-under 64 – bogeying 18 to miss tying the course record – at the Champions Tour’s second major.

The field of 78 averaged 70.96, a first-round record.

Isao Aoki, Ron Streck and Watson were two shots off the lead while Dana Quigley, Jim Ahern and Wayne Levi shot 67s and were three behind Marsh. Hale Irwin was in a pack of nine at 68.

Watson, who won eight majors on the PGA Tour, overcame his putting problems with accurate approach shots, leaving him 6 feet or closer on each of his seven birdies.

“I hit the ball very close to the hole and had a lot of short birdie putts,” he said. “But my stroke isn’t very good.”

Streck seems to still have his stroke from tee to green, after becoming the first player to win a tournament on the PGA Tour, the Champions Tour and the Nationwide Tour by winning the Commerce Bank Championship last week.

Quigley endured a hip ailment well enough to put together a solid round, extending his playing streak to 264 consecutive events – 278 in a row when eligible.

The Champions Tour money leader said his run might end after this week because the next stop is the Senior British Open. Quigley is not sure he can endure the seven-hour flight and a four-hour drive to the course in Scotland, and says he won’t decide until the end of next week.

“It always feels good on the golf course,” Quigley said. “When I’m standing up, I’m OK. The acid test comes when I sit down for dinner.

“I’m very proud of the streak, so I’ll be very disappointed if I have to break it.”

A back specialist worked Wednesday on Quigley, and he was encouraged by how he felt.

“I was supposed to have an MRI, but the doctor said it isn’t a bone problem, it is a muscle problem,” Quigley said. “It wasn’t as sore as I expected, so maybe something good is happening.”

Defending champion Mark James, an Englishman, shot a 2-under 70 on the day terrorist’s bombs tore through London.

“These things are a part of modern life and we’ll have to live with them,” James said. “It’s a horrendous thing.”

The Senior Players is the first of three straight majors, followed by the Senior British Open in two weeks at Royal Aberdeen and the U.S. Senior Open the following week in Ohio.

The average winning score the past seven years has been almost 17 under, but Stewart Ginn won at 14 under in 2003. That’s why Marsh didn’t want to guess what it’ll take this week to be the champion.

“We saw what happened here a couple years ago,” said Marsh, who hasn’t won a tournament in six years. “I think there was only one score under 70 the last day when it blew around here.

“We do know on this golf course, conditions can change dramatically. If this thing gets a little hard, fast, the greens start to dry out, it goes from being a golf course that can be had to a golf course that you’re just hanging on for dear life to save par.”

AP-ES-07-07-05 1727EDT

Copy the Story Link