LPGA Group Set for Pelican Tournament

Annika Sorenstam, Lori Kane, Meg Mallon and Beth Daniel have committed to the Hyundai Team Matches, completing the LPGA portion of the field for the Dec. 15-17 event at Pelican Hill in Newport Coast.

Sorenstam, Mallon and Kane are ranked second, third and seventh on the current LPGA Tour money list. Daniel, a 32-tournament winner in her career, is 24th on the money list and an LPGA Hall of Fame member.

Sorenstam and Kane will play as a team and Mallon and Daniel will be partners in the match-play event which features four teams from each of the three major U.S. tours competing in three separate tournaments.

Grace Park and Kelli Kuehne are the third LPGA team that will be trying to unseat three-time defending champions Juli Inkster and Dottie Pepper.

The Senior PGA Tour field is also set with defending champions Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson going up against Gary McCord and John Jacobs, Allen Doyle and Dana Quigley and Bruce Fleisher and David Graham.

Tickets for the event are $25 for Friday practice rounds, $35 for competition on Saturday and Sunday or $65 for a three-day pass. To purchase tickets call the tournament office at (949) 759-5175 or Ticketmaster at (877) 484-3014.

ALL-AMERICAN HONORS

Steve Conway of Newport Beach and Angela Rho of Fullerton have been selected as second-team All-Americans by the American Junior Golf Assn.

It is the third All-American honor for Rho, a Sonora High graduate now at Stanford. She was a first-team selection last year and was second team in 1998. Conway, a Santa Margarita High graduate now at UCLA, makes his AJGA All-American debut.

Nico Bollini of Yorba Linda, a Servite senior headed for USC, was an honorable-mention selection. He was selected to the second team in 1999. Other honorable mention selections included Daniel Kush of Tustin, a junior at Newport Harbor; Stella Lee of Irvine, a senior at Irvine High, and Priscilla Park of Santa Ana, a junior at Villa Park High.

Matthew Rosenfeld of Plano, Texas, and Aree Song Wongluekiet of Bradenton, Fla., were boys’ and girls’ players of the year. It is the first time since 1996 that a county resident did not make the first team.

PGA TOUR QUALIFYING

Justin Boatman of Aliso Viejo and former Valencia high player Chris Tidland advanced to the second stage of PGA Tour Qualifying school by finishing fifth and ninth, respectively, at the first stage last week at Bayonet in Seaside.

John Burckle of Mission Viejo shot 77-78-76-69--300 at Bayonet and missed a playoff for the final spot by one shot. He is an alternate for the second stage. Terry Noe of Fullerton shot 75-73-78-75--301 and missed the playoff by two shots.

Perry Parker of Dana Point (71-74-75-76), Brad Greer of Huntington Beach (78-70-75-73) and Bill Brodie of Newport Beach (77-77-73-69) each shot 296 and tied for 34th at La Purisima in Lompoc and missed advancing to the second stage by three shots.

Han Lee of Buena Park shot 76-75-68-69--288 and finished 24th at the first stage in Panama City Beach, Fla., and is an alternate for the second stage.

Chad Morris of Tustin, Scott Richardson of Aliso Viejo, Stoney Waters of Placentia and Stan Watkins of Newport Beach are among the field that began the first stage Tuesday at Dayton Valley Country Club in Dayton, Nev. Jason Follen of Anaheim Hills and Steve Shriver of Cypress are entered in the first stage at Cypresswood Golf Club in Spring, Texas.

The second-stage tournaments will be Nov. 7-10 and Nov. 14-17 at six locations, including Black Horse in Seaside and Oak Valley in Beaumont. The six-round finals are Nov. 29-Dec. 4 at PGA West in La Quinta.

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TEE TIMES

A look at upcoming tournaments in the region or major events involving top regional players:

* 28-30: Deacon Jones Hall of Fame Classic. La Costa Resort and Spa. Cost is $2,500. Benefits Deacon Jones Foundation, helping establish educational, mentoring and inner-city community programs. Information: (714) 281-2842.

* 29: Long Beach Junior Championship, Heartwell GC.

* 6: SCPGA Champion of Champions, TBA.

* 13: Laguna Hills High PTSA Annual Golf Tournament, Mission Viejo CC. Cost is $225. Benefits Laguna Hills High PTSA Programs and Grad Night 2001. Details: (949) 582-5987 or (949) 380-3909.

* 13-14: SCGA Four-ball Championship, San Gabriel CC.