LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England -- Juli Inkster has a daughter the
same age as Michelle Wie and the 46-year-old won her first two
majors six years before the 16-year-old from Hawaii was even born.
On Thursday, the woman seeking to become the oldest golfer to
win an LPGA Tour major was much more impressive than the teenager
trying to become the youngest to accomplish the feat.
Inkster shot a 6-under 66 to take a three-shot lead over
Sweden's Maria Hjorth and Italy's Silvia Cavalleri after the first
round of the Women's British Open.
"I played very well all day. It's a tough golf course. If
someone had offered me a 66 I would have gone to the bar and
watched," Inkster said. "I'm very happy with the way I played. I
did a lot of good things out there."
Wie began her first visit to the Royal Lytham links with three
bogeys and finished at 2-over 74, eight shots off the lead.
"My first few tee shots weren't the greatest," Wie said. "But
it's long gone. I felt like I played well the back nine although I
struggled a bit. I made a great birdie at the last hole."
Annika Sorenstam had a double bogey on 17 and a bogey on 18 to
go from 3 under to even-par 72; Karrie Webb had an 8 and two 6s on
her card to finish with a 76; and Lorena Ochoa, who was 2 under at
the turn, wound up with a 74.
Inkster had an eagle and three birdies to make the turn at 30.
If the American hadn't put her tee shot into a fairway bunker on
18, she would have finished with a 65.
Despite that slight hitch, she had plenty of fun during the
round.
"When I first started out, I thought I'd play five years and
quit and have a family and head off into the sunset," said
Inkster, whose daughter Hayley is 16. "But I keep playing. I play
18 to 25 [tournaments] a year and make a pretty good living and
enjoy what I do. If it was a grind, I wouldn't do it."
It was far from a grind on Thursday. Inkster made an eagle putt
from 18 feet at the par-5 sixth, and her accurate approach shots
gave her five birdie putts from 18 feet or less.
If Inkster wins her first British Open title, she will have the
longest span between her first major victory and her last in
women's golf -- 22 years. In 1984, she won the Kraft Nabisco
Championship and the du Maurier Classic, which was replaced by the
British in 2001. Her most recent major title is the 2002 U.S.
Women's Open.
Inkster puts her successes down to not putting golf ahead of her
family.
"I'm very fortunate. I have two very great kids. Golf is what I
do but it's not really who I am," she said. "I love what I do but
being a mom is probably the greatest thing I've ever done. I've
just found a balance in my life.
"Hayley, she's worried about what her friends are doing for
dinner, and Michelle is worrying about trying to win a major
championship, just two different lifestyles."
Wie came into the tournament after tying for second at last
week's Evian Masters near the French Alps, and said her consistent
form suggested she was very close to winning her first tournament.
In her last four majors, she has three third-place finishes and a
fifth-place result.
Wie dropped shots at the first three holes. She had a weak chip
at the first, found a greenside bunker at the second and played
well short of the green with her second shot at the third.
She made her first birdie at the eighth but bogeyed the 11th.
The consolation was a 5-iron on her second shot at 18 which left
her close to the pin for her second birdie.