Event-Record 63 Puts Pak Ahead of Pack

So much for making the course tougher.

On Friday, Former LPGA rookie of the year Se Ri Pak fired a tournament-record 63, Juli Inkster was only three shots back and Hall of Famer Betsy King carded a record-low 29 on the back nine.

Welcome to the ShopRite LPGA Classic at Absecon, N.J., where the rough was made rougher and the greens widened in response to the scorching 17-under-par score posted last year by winner Annika Sorenstam.

The idea was to make the Seaview Marriott Resort course tougher. But someone forgot to tell the players.

Pak, who won four tournaments last year but has not won in 1999, was eight under par on the 6,051-yard course, posting 10 birdies.

She said she hoped to win so she could give the trophy to her mentor-father, Joon Chul Pak, for Father’s Day.

“That’s my goal this week,” she said.

Inkster, winner of the U.S. Open two weeks ago, was at 66. Sorenstam struggled on the greens en route to a one-over 72.

But the rain-softened course was a dream come true for the 21-year-old Pak.

“Today I had great speed, great reads. Everything was perfect,” the Korean said.

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David Graham and Walter Hall shot six-under 66s and shared the first-round lead at the $1.1-million Southwestern Bell Dominion seniors tournament at San Antonio.

Graham, the 1997 champion, had four birdies and an eagle, while Hall had six birdies at the 6,835-yard course at the Dominion Country Club.

“I was very pleased with the way I played,” said Graham, the former PGA and U.S. Open champion on the regular tour who is 46th on the senior money list. “I putted extremely well, which was the difference today.”

Eight golfers were one stroke back, including Bruce Fleisher, the Senior PGA Tour’s leading money-winner and winner of four tournaments as a rookie this year.

Tied with Fleisher were Gibby Gilbert, Vicente Fernandez, Dana Quigley, Tom Jenkins, Hugh Baiocchi, Tom Shaw and John Mahaffey.

Seven golfers were at 68: Fred Gibson, Tom McGinnis, Tom Wargo, Jimmy Powell, Graham Marsh, Jim Colbert and Howard Twitty.