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Battling the elements Delasin, Pak handle wind for Samsung first round lead
Updated: Friday October 05, 2001 6:33 PM VALLEJO, Calif. (AP) -- Like anyone who grew up in the San Francisco Bay area, Dorothy Delasin knows how to survive in fickle weather. Se Ri Pak and hometown favorite Delasin shot 2-under-par 70s Thursday to take the first-round lead in the Samsung World Championship at Hiddenbrooke Golf Club. Under threatening skies and in wind so strong that it blew numbers off the main outdoor scoreboard all morning, Delasin was in her element, though even she was surprised at how well she played. Delasin, whose family lives in South San Francisco, grew up playing difficult courses in the wind, the rain and the sun - often in the same round. She was the only player to wear shorts on Thursday, though she also borrowed a pair of mittens from a fan to warm her hands between shots. "I didn't get goose bumps, so I must be used to it," Delasin said. "I kept waiting for the sun to come out, but it never did. I just had to try to stay warm out there." The biggest names in women's golf are in the 20-player field of the $750,000 event, held on a long, winding, Arnold Palmer-designed course in the suburban hills northeast of the Bay. The course already was one of the tour's more difficult challenges, but the windy conditions kept scores high and frustrated everyone. Sophie Gustafson, Kelly Robbins and Emilee Klein shot 71s. Karrie Webb is two strokes off the lead, with Annika Sorenstam at 73 and defending champion Juli Inkster -- another Bay Area player -- at 2 over. "It's always difficult to be first out in cold conditions, but it hasn't got any better," Klein said. "Right now, it's brutal out there. It played really tough today." Several players ran into trouble on the back nine, where conditions were particularly unpredictable. Janice Moodie went double bogey-bogey-triple bogey in a three-hole stretch, while Dottie Pepper lost three strokes on the same three holes. Pak played a steady round with only two bogeys to tie Delasin for the lead. The Women's British Open champion returned from a five-week break last week to win the ALFAC Champions in Alabama for her fifth victory of the year. "Today was really hard," she said. "It's kind of a headache now. Pretty much, I hit every hole with the driver, but it was fun to challenge myself with the wind and the golf course. I really had fun today." The most vocal fans were watching Inkster and Delasin, whose decision to turn pro last year appears to have been a good one - though she has been too busy establishing herself on the tour to make any visits home. In July, she won her second Giant Eagle LPGA Classic - coming from behind to beat Pak in the final round for the second straight year. Last season's rookie of the year has missed just two cuts in 2001. Delasin, 21, hadn't seen her father, Arsenio, since April, but he surprised her at the eighth hole. "He's the reason I'm out here, so it's great to see him," Delasin said.
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