Oakmont Not Showing Its Teeth

So much for the monster of Oakmont Country Club bringing the professional players to their knees.

One day after Annika Sorenstam broke the course record of 67 with an opening-round 66, two other players tied it on Saturday.

Leta Lindley, a former teammate and roommate of Sorenstam at the University of Arizona, was the first to tie the record.

Terry-Jo Myers used a 30 on the back nine, the lowest nine-hole score in this event, en route to get her share of the record.

But before any Oakmont bashing starts, consider this: only 24 of the 144-player field finished the second round under par. The same number of players were at least 10 over par.

Over two days of play there were 24 rounds in the 80s and 34 rounds under par.

Eighty one players made the cut, which came at five over par.

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Bad Lie: Emilee Klein came to the par-5 17th hole in good shape at four-under par, but hit her approach into a bunker. To make matters worse, the high-flying ball landed in a bank and was buried about four inches deep in the sand.

She called for an official ruling which stated she could uncover the ball to identify it, but could not move it.

She found the ball, then opted to play it from its plugged position instead of declaring it unplayable and taking a one-stroke penalty.

She blasted at the ball, which popped straight up and rolled back down the bank, remaining in the bunker.

After putting her second attempt out of the sand to within five feet, she missed the putt and wound up with a double bogey.

Klein finished the round with a par and shot an even-par 72 for the day. She is seven strokes behind Sorenstam, who leads at nine-under par.

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More 17th: Melissa McNamara started the day at one-under par, but had bogeys at Nos. 1 and 9 and a double-bogey at 16 to go along with her birdie at 11 and came to No. 17 at two-over par.

She hit her approach shot to within four inches of the hole and walked to the green and tapped it in.

At that point a spectator called out to her, “Nice putt,” to which the crowd-friendly McNamara replied: “Thanks, it was the best putt I’ve had all day.”

She finished with a 74 and made the cut.

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Hot seats: The Oakmont pro shop special-ordered 96 spectator stools, and they are the hottest-selling item.

The stools, which weigh about two pounds and fold up for easy carrying, sell for $17.95. At last count there were only eight of them left.

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Software: Kate Hughes sprained her right wrist hitting her ball out of a bunker near the 18th green.

The ball was close to the lip of the bunker and her club hit the lip on her follow through.

She completed the hole with a double bogey and then went to the hospital where doctors placed her wrist in a soft cast.

Hughes finished the tournament at seven-over-par 151 and missed the cut.

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Easy aces: Liselotte Neumann, Luciana Bemvenuti and Sue Thomas each had holes-in-one in Saturday’s third round.

Neumann and Thomas each aced the 144-yard third hole and Bemvenuti holed her tee shot on the 155-yard 14th.

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Finishing touch: Kay Cockerill finished Saturday’s play in much the same shape that she started--near the bottom of the pack at 22-over par.

Cockerill, from UCLA, is a non-exempt player who has won $205,664 in 10 years on the tour. Her best finish was a tie for third at the 1991 LPGA Bay State Classic in Canton, Mass.

At Oakmont, Cockerill shot a dismal 89 on Friday but rebounded with a 77 in the second round.

She finished with a bang, chipping in from the bunker for a birdie on the last hole.

The crowd roared. Cockerill, who also is a commentator for the Golf Channel, threw her hands into the air.

“I guess I can play,” she yelled.