Friday, March 26, 2004
Healthy Again, Shares Lead With Lee
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif., March 26 (AP) — Dottie Pepper has not been the same since the traditional winner's plunge here five years ago left her with walking pneumonia and strange green stuff in her ears.
That does not mean she does not want to do it again. And if she keeps playing like she did Friday in the Kraft Nabisco Championship, she might get a chance.
"I'll jump if that's the case and worry about starting antibiotics on Monday," Pepper said. "I hope we have that problem."
Pepper, helping carry the torch for veteran players in a tournament where teenagers seem to shine, shot a two-under-par 70 Friday under difficult conditions to tie Jung Yeon Lee at six under for the second-round lead in the first major L.P.G.A. Tour championship of the year.
Annika Sorenstam did not handle the conditions as well, hitting into the water for a double bogey on the final hole for a four-over-par 76 that seriously damaged any chance she has of winning all four L.P.G.A. majors this year, her stated goal.
"A day like today just wears you out mentally," said Sorenstam, who has won two of the last three Nabiscos.
Still, she refused to count herself out. "There's two days to go, and I've come back from further behind in one day," Sorenstam said.
Pepper and Lee, at 138, were a stroke ahead of 17-year-old Aree Song, Karrie Webb and Wendy Doolan. The 14-year-old sensation Michelle Wie was three shots back.
The day was so long that Lee, whose best finish on tour is second, putted under palm trees framed by green lights on the 18th hole to finish her round of 69.
Pepper, happy to be healthy again after five years of injuries and ailments, made only one bogey on a day when the winds gusted, the pace of play was excruciatingly slow, and scores soared on the Dinah Shore tournament course at Mission Hills Country Club.
She made three birdies in the first 10 holes, then had pars the rest of the way in, except for that lone bogey on the 12th.
Pepper, 38, who won here in 1992 but has won only twice since, traces her illness to jumping in the murky water around the 18th green after winning her second Nabisco in 1999. She got sick and did not play for four weeks.
But her two rounds here have rekindled her spirits.
"I'm not the kind of player that's going to come out her just because I have nothing else to do," Pepper said. "I'm going to play good golf or, trust me, I'm going to find something else to do."
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif., March 26 (AP) — Dottie Pepper has not been the same since the traditional winner's plunge here five years ago left her with walking pneumonia and strange green stuff in her ears.
That does not mean she does not want to do it again. And if she keeps playing like she did Friday in the Kraft Nabisco Championship, she might get a chance.
"I'll jump if that's the case and worry about starting antibiotics on Monday," Pepper said. "I hope we have that problem."
Pepper, helping carry the torch for veteran players in a tournament where teenagers seem to shine, shot a two-under-par 70 Friday under difficult conditions to tie Jung Yeon Lee at six under for the second-round lead in the first major L.P.G.A. Tour championship of the year.
Annika Sorenstam did not handle the conditions as well, hitting into the water for a double bogey on the final hole for a four-over-par 76 that seriously damaged any chance she has of winning all four L.P.G.A. majors this year, her stated goal.
"A day like today just wears you out mentally," said Sorenstam, who has won two of the last three Nabiscos.
Still, she refused to count herself out. "There's two days to go, and I've come back from further behind in one day," Sorenstam said.
Pepper and Lee, at 138, were a stroke ahead of 17-year-old Aree Song, Karrie Webb and Wendy Doolan. The 14-year-old sensation Michelle Wie was three shots back.
The day was so long that Lee, whose best finish on tour is second, putted under palm trees framed by green lights on the 18th hole to finish her round of 69.
Pepper, happy to be healthy again after five years of injuries and ailments, made only one bogey on a day when the winds gusted, the pace of play was excruciatingly slow, and scores soared on the Dinah Shore tournament course at Mission Hills Country Club.
She made three birdies in the first 10 holes, then had pars the rest of the way in, except for that lone bogey on the 12th.
Pepper, 38, who won here in 1992 but has won only twice since, traces her illness to jumping in the murky water around the 18th green after winning her second Nabisco in 1999. She got sick and did not play for four weeks.
But her two rounds here have rekindled her spirits.
"I'm not the kind of player that's going to come out her just because I have nothing else to do," Pepper said. "I'm going to play good golf or, trust me, I'm going to find something else to do."
