Booth at Her Best in British Open

Kellee Booth of Rancho Santa Margarita had her best finish on the LPGA Tour when she shot 73-71-71-73--288 and placed 10th at the Women’s British Open last weekend at Royal Birkdale in England.

Booth, a tour rookie who went to Santa Margarita High and Arizona State, earned $19,742 and is 55th on the season money list with $132,037. She is fourth in the Rookie of the Year standings with 287 points, trailing Dorothy Delasin (561), Grace Park (541) and Heather Bowie (385).

BATEMAN ON A BUY.COM SPREE

Ahmad Bateman of Huntington Beach continues to sizzle on the Buy.com Tour.

The 39-year-old former club professional shot 67-68-69-66--270 and finished seventh in the Fort Smith Classic last week in Arkansas. He has three consecutive top-10 finishes and has been in the top 15 in five consecutive tournaments.

Bateman, who has shot 12 consecutive rounds in the 60’s, leads the Buy.com Tour with a 69.10 scoring average. He is 31st on the money list with $92,473, despite having played just nine events.

OFF TO FLORIDA

Eunice Choi of Dove Canyon, Nan Kyong Ha of Garden Grove, Kimberly Kolstad of Newport Beach and Sandy Song of La Habra are among the 162 players entered in the first LPGA Tour Sectional Qualifying tournament beginning today at Plantation Golf and Country Club in Venice, Fla.

The top 30 finishers after four rounds advance to the final qualifying stage Oct. 17-20 at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla.

A second sectional qualifying tournament is Sept. 12-15 at Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage.

SEYMOUR ADVANCES

Nick Seymour of Tustin shot a four-over-par 75 Tuesday in the second round of the U.S. Amateur Championship at Baltusrol in Springfield, N.J., and advanced to the 64-player match-play field with a two-day total of 146.

Seymour faces 1999 Walker Cup team member Tom McKnight of South Carolina in the first round of match play today. McKnight, runner-up in the 1998 U.S. Amateur, is seeded third.

Don Dubois of Coto de Caza shot 74-74--148 and missed the match-play portion by two shots. Ken Wertzberger of Garden Grove (78-74--152), Jae Jang of Fullerton (84-75--159), Mike Lavery of Irvine (80-80--160) and Kyung-Man Kim of Fullerton (83-81--164) also missed the cut.