A Grieving Morris Drops Out

Playing in her first tournament since her brother was fatally shot in a robbery two months ago, Marianne Morris dropped out of the LPGA’s Chick-fil-A Charity Championship midway through the second round Saturday at Stockbridge, Ga.

Morris opened with a five-under-par 67 on Friday, putting her only two strokes off the lead, but she had bogeys on the first two holes Saturday and never recovered. She withdrew with a 42, having bogeyed six of nine holes at Eagles Landing Country Club south of Atlanta.

“Everything went right yesterday,” said her mother, Barbara, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Nothing went right today.”

Morris’ caddie, Jeff King, said the golfer had a queasy stomach, but her condition seemed more emotional than physical.

Mike Morris, her mentor, business partner and best friend, was gunned down Feb. 21 in a robbery at the suburban Atlanta golf shop they owned together.

Marianne Morris had left the course by the time Barb Mucha equaled LPGA records for lowest score on a par-72 course and most birdies in a round, shooting a 10-under 62 to join four others in the lead.

Worried about making the cut early in the day, Mucha put together a streak of seven consecutive birdies that finally ended when she missed a 12-foot putt at No. 13.

She finished the round with 11 birdies, tying the mark set by Vicki Fergon in the 1984 San Jose Classic. Mucha became the eighth to shoot 62 on a par-72 course, the last being Meg Mallon in the Myrtle Beach Classic a year ago.

The only player to post a lower round was Se Ri Pak, who fired a 61 on a par-71 course in the Jamie Farr Classic last year.

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Jesper Parnevik shot a five-under 67 to move to 21 under in the Great Greensboro Chrysler Classic at Greensboro, N.C., breaking by four shots the 54-hole tournament record set by Sandy Lyle in 1988.

His three-round score of 195 is also the best on tour this year, beating David Duval’s 198 at the season-opening Mercedes Championships and Tiger Woods at the Buick Invitational.

Parnevik bogeyed two of his last three holes and fell three shots shy of the tour’s 54-hole record of 24-under par set by John Cook at the FedEx St. Jude Classic in 1996. He missed by six strokes Cook’s record 54-hole shot total of 189.

He holds a three-shot lead.

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Allen Doyle and Bruce Fleisher, the leading money winners this year on the senior tour, surged to the front in the Home Depot Invitational at Charlotte, N.C., to claim a share of the second-round lead at eight under with Terry Dill.

Fifteen golfers remain within five strokes of the lead entering today’s final round at the Tournament Players Club at Piper Glen. Jim Holtgrieve was at seven under and DeWitt Weaver was six under. Mike Hill, Isao Aoki and Bob Dickson were five under.

Doyle shot his second consecutive 68, a round highlighted by four birdies on the front nine. Fleisher’s 67 included five birdies on the front. Dill also shot 67.

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Jarmo Sandelin of Sweden shot his third consecutive six-under 66 to take a three-stroke lead with one round to play in the Spanish Open at Barcelona.

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Leaders

Tournament leaders going into today’s final rounds: (Complete scores, D16:)

$2.6-MILLION GREATER

GREENSBORO OPEN, Par 72

Jesper Parnevik 65-63-67--195 -21

Jim Furyk 67-63-68--198 -18

Dudley Hart 66-65-71--202 -14

Jeff Maggert 68-62-75--205 -11

Tom Lehman 69-68-69--206 -10

$1.2-MILLION

HOME DEPOT INVITATIONAL, Par 72

Bruce Fleisher 69-67--136 -8

Terry Dill 68-68--136 -8

Allen Doyle 68-68--136 -8

Jim Holtgrieve 70-67--137 -7

DeWitt Weaver 73-65--138 -6

$800,000 CHICK-FIL-A

CHARITY CHAMPIONSHIP, Par 72

Barb Mucha 72-62--134 -10

Mi Hyun Kim 69-65--134 -10

R. Hetherington 67-67--134 -10

Leslie Spalding 66-68--134 -10

Maria Hjorth 65-69--134 -10