Kelly Robbins

The second hole at the DuPont Country Club is usually a grizzly bear, a 400-yard par 4 that doglegs to the right with bunkers scaring anyone who dares to get too bold. It is annually one of the toughest holes in the McDonald's LPGA Championship. But a week of rain prompted LPGA officials to turn the hole into a teddy bear for yesterday's delayed opening round. Because of the wet conditions and the absence of roll on the fairway, tees were moved forward 60 yards to allow more players to reach the corner.

Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, whose duels through the years provided some of golf's most storied moments, teamed up for a dramatic victory yesterday at the Diners Club Matches in La Quinta, Calif. Nicklaus came up with the winning shot. He hit his second shot, an 8-iron, out of a difficult hillside lie 146 yards from the green, within 20 feet of the pin on the first playoff hole. After both Tom Weiskopf and Simon Hobday missed their chances at par on the par-4 hole, they conceded the hole and the match to Nicklaus and Palmer.

Fluke or The Future? With her impressive, virtually errorless win at the McDonald's LPGA Championship yesterday, that is the most obvious question for fans of women's golf - not to mention competitors of Se Ri Pak's on the LPGA Tour. Was her first win on tour - a record-breaking 11-under-par showing in a major - a one-week breakout? Or did young Pak show us a glimpse of a superstar in the making who is hitting her stride? Will she quickly be one of those ever-present names atop the leader board, like Annika Sorenstam, Karrie Webb, Kelly Robbins and a few others?

Nancy Lopez returned to the DuPont Country Club at dawn yesterday all set to win her fourth McDonald's LPGA Championship. But her putter - more than the cold and the wind - kept her from her goal. Lopez, who led the tournament when play was suspended because of rain Saturday, played her last seven holes of the second round in 5 over par yesterday morning, then struggled to a 76 in the afternoon to finish in a tie for 18th place at 219, 6 shots behind champion Laura Davies. "I'm hitting the ball the best I've hit it, but I'm putting just horrendously," Lopez said.

There must be something about the McDonald's LPGA Championship that lends itself to an exciting finish, since the last three tournaments have been decided on the last hole. "We've been lucky to have all this excitement on Sundays, but I don't know why it happens," said Betsy Rawls, the LPGA Hall of Fame member and executive director of the championship. Rawls will hope for a fourth consecutive suspenseful finish when the 44th annual LPGA Championship returns to DuPont Country Club in Wilmington this week.

Kelly Robbins said she isn't one to worry about numbers. It was the numbers that told the story for her at the Jamie Farr Kroger Classic. Robbins recorded the lowest four-round score in LPGA history as she won the tournament in Sylvania, Ohio, by eight strokes yesterday. She had a 4-under-par 67 in the final round to finish at 19-under 265. "Something like that is really nice. Unfortunately, I don't pay a lot of attention to stuff like that," she said. "But for those who do, they'll see my name.

Last May, Kelly Robbins won her first major, the LPGA Championship at DuPont Country Club. She did so in style, overcoming a three-shot deficit over the final seven holes to beat defending champion Laura Davies by one stroke. It should have been her moment. Instead, it seemed as if the only thing everyone wanted to talk about was players who were gay. CBS analyst Ben Wright had started it all by telling a local newspaper reporter that lesbianism was hurting the LPGA Tour. And just like that, the tournament became the sidebar.

Michelle Ellis is a 20-something LPGA Tour pro from Australia, just like Karrie Webb. That's where the comparison ends. Ellis is a second-year player who began the year without exempt status and didn't finish in the top 10 of an event until three weeks ago. Webb is an LPGA Hall of Famer-in-waiting with 27 victories and nearly $8.5 million in career earnings. Ellis, however, is showing no signs of inexperience at the First Union Betsy King Classic. Yesterday, she ripped off birdie streaks of five and three holes in carding a 7-under-par 65 to take a 2-stroke lead over Webb after three rounds of the tournament at Berkleigh Country Club.

Like most first-year players, Australia's Karrie Webb came to America with some relatively modest goals for the 1996 season: to finish in the top 40 on the LPGA tour's money list, and to make a run at top rookie honors. Less than one-third of the way through the campaign, that game plan has undergone some serious revisions. Webb, 21, is the leading money winner, with $462,388. That's $114,000 more than second-place Kelly Robbins. The 5-6 Webb won in her second start and finished first again Sunday at the Sprint Titleholders Championship on the LPGA's home course in Daytona Beach, Fla. She has been runner-up twice and in the top seven three other times.

Jack Nicklaus vaulted past Hale Irwin with a three-shot swing on the 12th hole and stayed ahead for his 100th pro victory and fourth in The Tradition in Scottsdale, Ariz. He was the defending champion in the Senior PGA event, which he also won on his first attempt, in 1990, and in 1991. Nicklaus carded his second straight 7-under-par 65 for a 16-under 272 overall, beating Irwin by three strokes. He has won 70 titles on the regular PGA Tour, 10 as a senior, and 20 others around the world.

Michelle Ellis is a 20-something LPGA Tour pro from Australia, just like Karrie Webb. That's where the comparison ends. Ellis is a second-year player who began the year without exempt status and didn't finish in the top 10 of an event until three weeks ago. Webb is an LPGA Hall of Famer-in-waiting with 27 victories and nearly $8.5 million in career earnings. Ellis, however, is showing no signs of inexperience at the First Union Betsy King Classic. Yesterday, she ripped off birdie streaks of five and three holes in carding a 7-under-par 65 to take a 2-stroke lead over Webb after three rounds of the tournament at Berkleigh Country Club.

DEARBORN, Mich. - Jack Nicklaus was more than just a sentimental favorite. Nicklaus, whose streak of 154 majors will end when he skips the British Open next week, shot a 5-under-par 67 in the first round of the Senior Players Championship yesterday and was just 1 stroke off the lead. The leaders were Hale Irwin and John Jacobs with 66s at the TPC of Michigan, a course Nicklaus designed. Nicklaus, who birdied the final two holes, was tied with Bob Murphy and Terry Dill. "I walked around and I didn't hurt a step," said Nicklaus, who is considering surgery for his arthritic left hip. "Can I take back what I said yesterday?"

Fluke or The Future? With her impressive, virtually errorless win at the McDonald's LPGA Championship yesterday, that is the most obvious question for fans of women's golf - not to mention competitors of Se Ri Pak's on the LPGA Tour. Was her first win on tour - a record-breaking 11-under-par showing in a major - a one-week breakout? Or did young Pak show us a glimpse of a superstar in the making who is hitting her stride? Will she quickly be one of those ever-present names atop the leader board, like Annika Sorenstam, Karrie Webb, Kelly Robbins and a few others?

This was a tough spot for 20-year-old rookie Se Ri Pak, leading at the halfway point of a major championship, perhaps feeling the lofty expectations of a homeland thousands of miles away. More than a dozen reporters from Korean news agencies had poured into town to chronicle her every move yesterday at the McDonald's LPGA Championship. The gallery, "Pak's Pack," included one gentleman in a wide-brimmed Greg Norman hat who draped the Korean flag over the gallery rope at every opportunity.

There must be something about the McDonald's LPGA Championship that lends itself to an exciting finish, since the last three tournaments have been decided on the last hole. "We've been lucky to have all this excitement on Sundays, but I don't know why it happens," said Betsy Rawls, the LPGA Hall of Fame member and executive director of the championship. Rawls will hope for a fourth consecutive suspenseful finish when the 44th annual LPGA Championship returns to DuPont Country Club in Wilmington this week.

Kelly Robbins said she isn't one to worry about numbers. It was the numbers that told the story for her at the Jamie Farr Kroger Classic. Robbins recorded the lowest four-round score in LPGA history as she won the tournament in Sylvania, Ohio, by eight strokes yesterday. She had a 4-under-par 67 in the final round to finish at 19-under 265. "Something like that is really nice. Unfortunately, I don't pay a lot of attention to stuff like that," she said. "But for those who do, they'll see my name.

Nancy Lopez returned to the DuPont Country Club at dawn yesterday all set to win her fourth McDonald's LPGA Championship. But her putter - more than the cold and the wind - kept her from her goal. Lopez, who led the tournament when play was suspended because of rain Saturday, played her last seven holes of the second round in 5 over par yesterday morning, then struggled to a 76 in the afternoon to finish in a tie for 18th place at 219, 6 shots behind champion Laura Davies. "I'm hitting the ball the best I've hit it, but I'm putting just horrendously," Lopez said.

The second hole at the DuPont Country Club is usually a grizzly bear, a 400-yard par 4 that doglegs to the right with bunkers scaring anyone who dares to get too bold. It is annually one of the toughest holes in the McDonald's LPGA Championship. But a week of rain prompted LPGA officials to turn the hole into a teddy bear for yesterday's delayed opening round. Because of the wet conditions and the absence of roll on the fairway, tees were moved forward 60 yards to allow more players to reach the corner.

Like most first-year players, Australia's Karrie Webb came to America with some relatively modest goals for the 1996 season: to finish in the top 40 on the LPGA tour's money list, and to make a run at top rookie honors. Less than one-third of the way through the campaign, that game plan has undergone some serious revisions. Webb, 21, is the leading money winner, with $462,388. That's $114,000 more than second-place Kelly Robbins. The 5-6 Webb won in her second start and finished first again Sunday at the Sprint Titleholders Championship on the LPGA's home course in Daytona Beach, Fla. She has been runner-up twice and in the top seven three other times.

Last May, Kelly Robbins won her first major, the LPGA Championship at DuPont Country Club. She did so in style, overcoming a three-shot deficit over the final seven holes to beat defending champion Laura Davies by one stroke. It should have been her moment. Instead, it seemed as if the only thing everyone wanted to talk about was players who were gay. CBS analyst Ben Wright had started it all by telling a local newspaper reporter that lesbianism was hurting the LPGA Tour. And just like that, the tournament became the sidebar.