GOLF ROUNDUP : Neumann Shoots a 66 and Leads by One Shot

Liselotte Neumann rebounded from a season-long slump to shoot a four-under-par 66 Thursday and take a one-stroke lead over defending champion Nancy Lopez and Dale Eggeling after the first round of a $300,000 LPGA tournament at Somers Point, N.J.

All three are looking to end lengthy victory droughts.

Neumann, of Sweden, has not won since the 1988 U.S. Women’s Open, her only LPGA victory. Eggeling scored her only tour victory in 1980, and Lopez has not won since last year, a major slump for the Hall of Famer, who has won 42 tournaments.

“I’m excited about today,” Lopez said after matching her best score this year. She did it with four birdies and a bogey on the par-70, 6,015-yard Sands Country Club course. “I played well and held onto it. It’s one of the best starts I’ve had in the last few tournaments.”

Neumann missed cuts in the last two tournaments and has finished no higher than seventh this year, but she birdied three of the first four holes Thursday and had seven birdies and three bogeys.

Rick Hartmann, inspired by a practice round with tennis star Ivan Lendl, took a share of the first-round lead in a PGA European Tour stop at Rickmansworth, England.

Hartmann, from Osprey, Fla., was among four golfers who shot six-under par 66s over the 6,855-yard Moor Park Golf Club course. Tied with him were Sam Torrance of Scotland and Peter Mitchell and Andrew Sherborne of England.

Hartmann credited his putting for his solid round and a game with Lendl on Wednesday.

“I knew Lendl was a golf nut, but he is also a great competitor,” Hartmann said. “He played nine and beat me 1-up. He also won $5 and seemed very pleased about that, but I guess he needs the money.”