Associated Press
Friday, November 3

OTSU, Japan -- Rachel Hetherington is starting to find her way around the golf course with ease, the latest proof being a 6-under 66 on Friday that gave her a share of the lead after the first round of the LPGA Mizuno Classic.

Hetherington made four straight birdies beginning at the fourth hole and added two more birdies on the back nine at the windy, 6,423-yard Seta Golf Club North.

"I was really a rookie last year," said Hetherington, who joined the tour in 1998 but did not play a full schedule until 1999. "So it's easier now just to focus on the golf. I know exactly what to expect."

Hetherington is tied with Sophie Gustafson, who birdied the last four holes and eight overall in the $850,000 LPGA tournament.

The round matches her best this year, which she carded two weeks ago at the AFLAC Champions in Mobile, Ala. It's also her lowest in seven rounds she has played at the Mizuno Classic. She finished tied for ninth last year.

"Everything kind of came together for me today," said Hetherington, who has played solid this season but hasn't won since April of 1999. "Tomorrow, I'm not going to let any small chance go without taking advantage of it."

Diana D'Alessio and Japan's Midori Yoneyama were tied for third place at 67, followed by defending champion Maria Hjorth and three others at 68.

The group sitting two strokes behind the leaders included South Korean Ko Woo-soon, a former Mizuno Classic champion.

Grace Park, Jill McGill, Vicki Goetze-Ackerman and South Korean star Ku Ok-hee highlighted a group of nine at 69.

Former champion Liselotte Neumann and Lorie Kane were among eight players tied at 2-under 70.

Pearl Sinn, Nancy Scranton, Cindy McCurdy and Becky Iverson shot even-par.

Hjorth didn't have to borrow a set of clubs this time, as she did last year when she arrived for the first round without her own. They were lost by the airline during her trip to Japan.

When her clubs finally arrived after the first round, Hjorth used a mixed set to tie her career-low score of 8-under 64 in the second round and post a 5-under 67 in the third to win her second event of the 1999 season.

This year's event features 46 members of the LPGA Tour and 35 members of the Japan LPGA. It offers a top prize of $127,500.

Karrie Webb and Annika Sorenstam, the leading money winners on the LPGA Tour, are not playing in this event.