Hull leads at ADT Championship

2008-11-20

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WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (Ticker) - Australian Katherine Hull has a one-stroke lead after Thursday’s first round of the ADT Championship.

Hull shot a 4-under-par 68 at the Trump International Golf Club and is one shot ahead of Koreans In-Kyung Kim and Ji-Yai Shin at the LPGA Tour’s season-ending event.

Hull started strong with a pair of birdies on the front nine. She then posted four birdies and a pair of bogeys through the final nine holes.

“Overall I’m pretty happy,” Hull said. “Yeah, I didn’t have really any expectations going out there, just tried to execute the game plan and have fun. My caddie and I did that today, so it was a good day.”

The Australian is looking for her second win of the season, following a victory at the CN Canadian Women’s Open in August. She also has eight top-10 finishes this season.

“Obviously, Canada was a turning point for me in my faith life, in my spiritual life,” Hull said. “I’ve got that back on track now. That’s kind of given me a different perspective on golf. I’m not just kind of out here playing for nothing. I’m playing for God.”

Kim bogeyed the first and last holes and had five birdies in between. Shin started with three birdies before the turn, and had two birdies and bogeys on the back nine.

“Today my drive was good so, I never missed the fairway,” Shin said. “And then, I was good at playing so good today, so very comfortable play.

“Then in the back nine I made bogeys. But, today’s pin location is too hard. It’s very tough. I think number 15, if somebody made a birdie, I think there’s the big news. It’s really tough, yeah.”

There is also a three-way tie for fourth place among Koreans Na Yeon Choi, Eun-Hee Ji and Ji Young Oh - all at 2-under.

The ADT Championship is also be the last tournament in a long run for Annika Sorenstam, who sits tied for 23rd at 2-over with Korean Hee-Won Han.

After 72 LPGA wins and 10 major championships, Sorenstam has decided to end her Hall of Fame career and pursue other interests. She made the announcement in May and her season has been building to this point for months.

She doesn’t use the word retire, but has insisted she won’t be seen on the LPGA Tour next season, and there is no guarantee she will be ever again.

Sorenstam has won three times on the LPGA Tour this season and has no regrets about moving on. She has said that she wants to start a family and pursue other business interests, including her golf academy in Florida.

But if she wants to go out a winner, Sorenstam will have to do much better than Monday’s round. She struggled early with bogeys on Nos. 5,7, 9 and 10. But she rebounded a bit on the back nine with birdies on the 14th and 15th holes.

“I was a little nervous, and, you know, I feel like I’m playing good,” Sorenstam said. “I’m excited about the week. It’s just, I’m telling you, nothing went my way today. It’s just very frustrating that way.”

England’s Karen Stupples is in a three-way deadlock for seventh place, three shots off the lead along with Americans Paula Creamer and Christina Kim.

Stupples birdied the third and fourth holes before a bogey on the seventh. She birdied No. 14, but promptly bogeyed the next hole before closing with three pars to finish 1-under.

The top player in the world, Lorena Ochoa, is tied for 26th with two other players at 3-over.

“You know I have nothing to complain,” Ochoa said. “I still have a chance. I’m not too far from the top 16 to make it to the next round. So I’m just going to be positive now and play good tomorrow.”

First prize is $1 million.