Submerged course makes for low scores in LPGA Bahamas Classic

Heather Bowie Young made five straight birdies while jumping from one side of the golf course to the other. Silvia Cavalleri was hitting the ball so well Friday she was sorry the Bahamas Classic was held on only 12 holes.

The slogan for the LPGA Tour is, “See why it’s different out here.” Was it ever.

Bowie Young and Cavalleri were tied for the lead at six-under 39, which by numbers alone broke the LPGA scoring record by 20 shots. Not to worry. Annika Sorenstam’s 59 in Phoenix in 2002 still stands as the lowest 18-hole score in LPGA history.

Severe flooding earlier in the week left much of the Ocean Club in Paradise Island under water. The LPGA decided to use the holes that were available, and two of those holes had to be converted into par threes because bunkers had caved in from a foot of rain that fell in a five-hour stretch Tuesday night.

The hope was to complete three rounds of 12 holes to make the inaugural Bahamas Classic official. On the LPGA Tour, 36 holes have to be completed for it to count. Even with a 12-hole, par-45 course, that was going to be a challenge because of a three-hour delay for lightning.

Twenty-seven players failed to finish the round.

::

Matt Kuchar was 10-under par on the 16th green when the second round of the Colonial at Fort Worth was suspended because of an impending storm system.

There were 18 groups still on the course, three still with eight holes to play, when play was stopped at 6:38 p.m. The second round at Hogan’s Alley will be completed Saturday morning.

Kuchar, the WGC-Accenture Match Play winner in February, had a one-stroke lead over Graham DeLaet.

DeLaet, from Canada, who shot a 67 in a morning round completed before an 2-hour 10-minute delay just after noon because of lightning.

First-round leader Ryan Palmer was still at eight under after shooting even par on his 12 holes Friday. Jordan Spieth, Steve Flesch and Josh Teater finished at eight under. Flesch had a 64, and Spieth and Teater shot 67.

::

Russ Cochran and Kenny Perry each shot five-under 66 at Bellerive Country Club to share the second-round lead in the Senior PGA Championship at St. Louis.

The longtime Kentucky friends were seven under. They will play together for the third straight day Saturday.

Japan’s Kiyoshi Murota was two strokes back after a 70. Jay Haas and Duffy Waldorf, tied for the lead after the first round, matched Loren Roberts at four under. Roberts had a 68, and Haas and Waldorf shot 72.

::

Rory McIlory was one of five 2012 European Ryder Cup players to miss the cut in the BMW PGA Championship, while Medinah teammate Francesco Molinari took the lead at cold and wet Wentworth at Virginia Water, England.

The second-ranked McIlory had a three-over 75 to finish at five over. Two-time defending champion Luke Donald, Ian Poulter, Graeme McDowell and Paul Lawrie — all members of Europe’s winning team last year at Medinah — also dropped out early. Molinari shot a 68 to take a one-stroke lead at six under.

South Africa’s George Coetzee, Scotland’s Marc Warren, England’s Mark Foster and Spain’s Alejandro Canizares were tied for second.

Sergio Garcia was five strokes back after a 71.

::

USC freshman Annie Park won the individual title and the Trojans won the team title with a record-setting performance at the NCAA women’s gold championships in Athens, Ga.

Park, from Levittown, N.Y., shot a one-under-71 in the final round to finish 10 under par for a six-stroke victory.

USC finished at 19-under, outpacing second-place Duke by 21 strokes. The Trojans score of 1,133 was 15 fewer strokes under par than the previous record set by UCLA in 2004. USC also won women’s golf titles in 2003 and 2008.

Park joins Jennifer Rosales, who won in 1998, Mikaela Parmlid (2003) and Dewi Claire Schreefel (2006) as individual champions from USC.

Freshman Kyung Kim and junior Sophia Popov of USC tied for sixth at one-over 289. Sophomore Doris Chen tied for 15th at 292 and junior Rachel Morris tied for 17th at 293.

— Gary Klein

::

The Galaxy has scheduled a Saturday press conference to announce it has acquired the rights to former U.S. national team player Robbie Rogers from the Chicago Fire in exchange for midfielder Mike Magee.

Rogers, a 26-year-old winger from Rancho Palos Verdes, briefly walked away from soccer last winter after being released by second-division English club Leeds United. In February, shortly after his retirement, he published a personal and powerful Internet blog in which he revealed he was gay. His return to the field for the Galaxy will make him the first openly gay player in Major League Soccer history.

The Galaxy had to pay a heavy price to get him, though, parting with the versatile Magee, a Chicago native and favorite of Coach Bruce Arena. Magee, 28, who can play in the midfield or at forward, has scored 16 goals for the Galaxy in the last three seasons, including a team-high six this year.

— Kevin Baxter

::

In their first match since winning gold at the 2012 Olympic Games, the USA Water Polo Women’s National Team beat Canada, 11-7, on opening day of the FINA World League preliminaries at Los Alamitos. Melissa Seidemann scored three goals and former USC player Tumua Anae of Newport Beach went the distance in net stopping six shots. Team USA will play Brazil Sunday at p.m.