Driving Distance

Entering the Valley of the Stars Championship today, about the only thing Helen Alfredsson and Emilee Klein have in common are their short commutes to Oakmont Country Club.

Alfredsson, a native of Sweden who lives in La Canada Flintridge, is off to another torrid start on the LPGA tour, having posted three top-eight finishes.

Klein, a Valley native who is staying at her parents’ home in Studio City this week, is still trying to find her touch after missing the cut in two tournaments and placing 74th in another.

Oakmont presents a different challenge for each golfer, with Alfredsson trying to maintain her focus and Klein hoping her familiarity with the course triggers a turnaround.

Alfredsson has been here before. She was at the top of her game early in the 1998 season, hitting great golf shots regardless of the conditions and tearing up LPGA courses. In her first five tour events, she won two tournaments and $207,751 in prize money.

Soon after, though, she began a long, slow fade.

“I dropped out of the sky,” Alfredsson said.

A season that began with so much promise dissolved into disappointment, with Alfredsson barely winning as much money in her last 18 tournaments as she had in her first five.

She finished 14th in tour earnings with $471,859. Not bad, but after her fast start, the $1 million mark seemed attainable.

“I really don’t know what happened,” Alfredsson said. “I worked hard at the beginning of the season. Maybe I wasn’t swinging as solidly as I thought.

“I had a good start, then all of a sudden expectations came up and they were higher than I was able to produce with my golf game. Then you get frustrated.”

Sensing she needed help, Alfredsson (pronounced al-FRID-sun) started working with a coach toward the end of last season.

Charlotte Montgomery, a Swede who has known Alfredsson for many years, has had a steadying influence on her protege, judging from early results.

“We’re able to communicate well,” Alfredsson said.

Her quick start in January included a runner-up finish at the Naples Memorial in Naples, Fla., where she finished a stroke behind Meg Mallon, and eighth-place finishes at the Office Depot tournament in West Palm Beach, Fla., and at the HealthSouth Inaugural in Orlando, Fla.

Alfredsson ranks fourth in LPGA earnings with $92,437. She is third in under-par rounds (nine of 11) and scoring average (69.64).

“I’ve hit some good golf shots at the beginning of the year because there were some tough conditions,” she said. “There was a lot of wind at the last two tournaments. I was very happy to hit shots that the wind didn’t affect.”

More than adverse weather, a lingering injury had a damaging effect on Alfredsson’s game. She hurt her right hip in a fall from a bicycle in the mid-1980s, but nothing serious was detected until two years ago when an examination by a radiologist revealed she had a detached hamstring and a broken bone.

Alfredsson said she played golf for 11 years with the condition, developing bad habits along the way.

“I was favoring my right side by putting weight on my left side,” she said. “Everything was a downhill lie, which in golf is not very funny.”

Following hip surgery, Alfredsson returned to the LPGA tour at the 1997 Los Angeles Women’s Championship at Oakmont. She has become familiar with the Glendale course, though she doesn’t play it as much as she practices there.

The close proximity between Oakmont and Alfredsson’s home in La Canada Flintridge, where she resides for about eight weeks of the year, makes playing in the Valley of the Stars Championship attractive for the 33-year-old former Swedish national champion.

“It’s nice to be able to sleep in your own bed,” she said.

Alfredsson lives with fiancee Leo Cuellar, a former Mexican national soccer player who will coach the Mexican women’s team in the 1998 World Cup in the U.S. The couple, who met at U.S. International University in San Diego, have been engaged for 11 years.

Asked if they had set a marriage date, Alfredsson jokingly replied, “Does it sound like it?”

If Alfredsson learns how marriage has affected the golf game of a competitor, she might postpone the wedding indefinitely.

Klein, 24, was married on Jan. 2 to Kenny Harms, her former caddie. Since then, her best showing in three tournaments was a 15-over-par 303 at the Office Depot tournament two weeks ago. She earned $713.

In retrospect, Klein said combining golf and a honeymoon probably wasn’t a good idea.

“If I had to do it over again, I wouldn’t have tried to play in those tournaments,” she said. “I’m finally feeling good again [about my game].”

Klein, who knows Oakmont better than any player on tour, hopes to jump-start her season this week but knows it won’t be easy. She grew up playing the demanding course with with her parents, longtime club members.

“This course will eat you up,” she said.

Klein, who resides in Orlando, Fla., has not won a tournament since 1996, when she placed first in the PING Welch’s Championship in Boston and the Weetabix Women’s British Open in successive weeks. She had five top-10 finishes last season.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Valley of the Stars

STARTING TIMES

Today, First Round

FIRST TEE

7:00--A.J. Eathorne; Jill McGill; Luciana Benvenuti.

7:09--Akiko Fukushima; Angie Ridgeway; Laura Philo.

7:18--Lisa Kiggens; Wendy Doolan; Cristie Kerr.

7:29--Liz Earley; Sophie Gustafson; Ki Hyun Kim.

7:36--Smriti Mehra; Marianne Morris; Lori Atsedes.

7:45--Erika Wicoff; Allison Finney; Sue Thomas.

7:54--Stefania Croce; Cindy Flom; Nancy Scranton.

8:03--Cindy Figg-Currier; Maria Hjorth; Patty Sheehan.

8:12--Lorie Kane; Jan Stephenson; Charlotta Sorenstam.

8:21--Jackie Gallagher-Smith; Michele Redman; Catriona Matthew.

8:30--Danielle Ammaccapane; Alison Nicholas; Kris Tschetter.

11:10--Dale Eggeling; Lisa Hackney; Jenny Lidback.

11:19--Beth Daniel; Cathy Johnston-Forbes; Deb Richard.

11:28--Amy Alcott; Michelle McGann; Kim Saiki.

11:37--Meg Mallon; Pearl Sinn; Tima Barrett.

11:46--Michelle Estill; Liselotte Neumann; Mayumi Hirase.

11:55--Patti Liscio; Amy Benz; Anna Acker-Nacosko.

12:04--Muffin Spencer-Devlin; Laurie Brower; Joanne Morley.

12:13--Nadine Ash; Martha Nause; Barb Whitehead.

12:22--Nancy Harvey; Karen Weiss; Annette DeLuca.

12:31--Patti Rizzo; Kristi Coats; Asa Gottmo.

12:40--Elaine Crosby; Sherri Turner; Jennifer Rosales.

TENTH TEE

7:00--Jean Bartholomew; Ellie Gibson; Mardi Lunn.

7:09--Marnie McGuire; Nanci Bowen; Elizabeth Makings.

7:18--Shani Waugh; Stephanie Lowe; Eva Dahllof.

7:27--Vicki Fergon; Laurie Rinker-Graham; Karen Lunn.

7:36--Diane Barnard; Leslie Spalding; Nicole Jeray.

7:45--Caroline Blaylock; Julie Piers; Leta Lindley.

7:54--Hiromi Kobayashi; Dina Ammaccapane; Juli Inkster.

8:03--Janice Moodie; Chris Johnson; Amy Fruhwirth.

8:12--Joan Pitcock; Tracy Hanson; Helen Dobson.

8:21--Vickie Odegard; Kristi Albers; Dana Dormann.

8:30--Jane Geddes; Cindy McCurdy; Dottie Pepper.

11:10--Pat Bradley; Sherri Steinhauer; Annika Sorenstam.

11:19--Se Ri Pak; Hollis Stacy; Rachel Hetherington.

11:28--Carin Koch; Pat Hurst; Penny Hammel.

11:37--Wendy Ward; Catrin Nilsmark; Helen Alfredsson.

11:46--Dawn Coe-Jones; Emilee Klein; Alicia Dibos.

11:55--Nancy Ramsbottom; Ashli Price-Bunch; Robin Walton.

12:04--Denise Killeen; Kathryn Marshall; Caroline McMillan.

12:13--Shelley Wendels; Shelley Hamlin; Kate Golden.

12:22--Sara Sanders; Moira Dunn; Jody Anschutz.

12:31--Susie Redman; Becky Iverson; Suzanne Strudwick.

12:40--Mary Beth Zimmerman; Mhairi McKay; Summer Simmons.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

1998 RESULTS

L.A. Women’s Championship

at Oakmont Country Club

Par 72, 36-hole scores

Dale Eggeling *72-69--141 ($97,500)

Hiromi Kobayashi67-74--141 ($60,510)

Cindy Schreyer72-70--142 ($35,433)

Karrie Webb72-70--142 ($35,433)

Elaine Crosby70-72--142 ($35,433)

Cindy Figg-Currier74-69--143 ($16,043)

Shelley Hamlin72-71--143 ($16,043)

Vicki Fergon72-71--143 ($16,043)

Laura Davies72-71--143 ($16,043)

Pat Hurst72-71--143 ($16,043)

Nancy Lopez71-72--143 ($16,043)

Annika Sorenstam71-72--143 ($16,043)

Dottie Pepper71-73--144 ($10,198)

Helen Alfredsson71-73--144 ($10,198)

Janice Moodie70-74--144 ($10,198)

Colleen Walker74-71--145 ($7,908)

Tammie Green74-71--145 ($7,908)

Joan Pitcock73-72--145 ($7,908)

Tracy Hanson73-72--145 ($7,908)

Michelle Estill72-73--145 ($7,908)

Leigh Ann Mills72-73--145 ($7,908)

Karen Weiss70-75--145 ($7,908)

Trish Johnson74-72--146 ($6,016)

Lorie Kane74-72--146 ($6,016)

Rachel Hetherington74-72--146 ($6,016)

Laurie Brower73-73--146 ($6,016)

Danielle Ammaccapane72-74--146 ($6,016)

Charlotta Sorenstam72-74--146 ($6,016)

Wendy Ward71-75--146 ($6,016)

Patty Sheehan76-71--147 ($4,873)

Akiko Fukishima75-72--147 ($4,873)

Kristi Albers74-73--147 ($4,873)

Eva Dahllof74-73--147 ($4,873)

Julie Piers72-75--147 ($4,873)

Allison Finney75-73--148 ($3,659)

Shani Waugh75-73--148 ($3,659)

Barb Mucha74-74--148 ($3,659)

Chris Johnson74-74--148 ($3,659)

Kristi Coats74-74--148 ($3,659)

Laurel Kean73-75--148 ($3,659)

Jane Geddes73-75--148 ($3,659)

Kris Tschetter71-77--148 ($3,659)

Wendy Doolan70-78--148 ($3,659)

Alicia Dibos70-78--148 ($3,659)

Beth Daniel78-71--149 ($2,369)

Penny Hammel76-73--149 ($2,369)

Se Ri Pak76-73--149 ($2,369)

Mitzi Edge74-75--149 ($2,369)

Brandi Burton74-75--149 ($2,369)

Patti Rizzo73-76--149 ($2,369)

Mardi Lunn73-76--149 ($2,369)

Donna Andrews72-77--149 ($2,369)

Amy Benz71-78--149 ($2,369)

Barb Whitehead75-75--150 ($1,534)

Lisa Walters75-75--150 ($1,534)

Jill Briles-Hinton75-75--150 ($1,534)

Emilee Klein74-75--150 ($1,534)

Maria Hjorth72-78--150 ($1,534)

Cristie Kerr71-79--150 ($1,534)

Luciana Bemvenuti71-79--150 ($1,534)

Alice Ritzman80-71--151 ($999)

Meg Mallon76-75--151 ($999)

Kim Saiki76-75--151 ($999)

Sherri Turner75-76--151 ($999)

Marianne Morris75-76--151 ($999)

Jackie Gallagher-Smith75-76--151 ($999)

Helen Dobson75-76--151 ($999)

Betsy King74-77--151 ($999)

Catriona Mathew74-77--151 ($999)

Amy Alcott73-78--151 ($999)

* won on first playoff hole