Devil Of A Day In Decatur: Bauer, Janangelo Share Lead

DECATUR, Ill., June 14, 2007 – Today’s first round of the $105,000 Michelob ULTRA Duramed FUTURES Players Championship was a dance with the devil in the blue dress. Make that two former Duke Blue Devils, Beth Bauer and Liz Janangelo, who turned up the heat and rattled off respective scores of five-under-par 67 to share the lead in the Tour’s only major championship.

“I really rolled my rock today and I hit a lot of good, quality shots,” said Bauer of Tampa, Fla., the LPGA’s 2002 top rookie and an All-American member of Duke’s 1999 NCAA Championship team. “It felt simple, like there was a rhythm to it, and I’m very excited to be in this position.”

Bauer switched to a YES! Golf C-Groove putter earlier this week and used only 27 putts today, carding six birdies and a single bogey. While her iron play was solid -- hitting 13 greens in regulation -- Bauer’s improved flat-stick confidence allowed her to save par twice – once from eight feet. She had putts within 10 feet on the first six holes, which set the tempo for her round.

“This week is going to be a putting contest,” said Bauer, a non-exempt LPGA Tour member. “And this feels good.”

Janangelo, who calls Bauer an “icon and a role model,” didn’t putt as well as her fellow Blue Devil -- recording 31 putts -- but she hit 18 greens in regulation, played a bogey-free round and rolled in three birdies on the front and two birdies on the back nine for her share of the lead at Hickory Point Golf Course.

“I haven’t rolled the ball this well, ever,” said Janangelo, a two-time season winner from West Hartford, Conn., who was a member of Duke’s 2005 and 2006 NCAA Championship teams. “The green speed is perfect and it seemed like every putt either lipped out or went in. It’s putting that wins tournaments.”

Of course, Hickory Point is no pushover, measuring 6,594 yards for the par-72 layout that features generous fairways and large greens with a fair amount of rough.

“It’s a longer course than usual and it doesn’t take the driver out of my hands, which is important,” said Janangelo.

Tied for second at four-under 68 is the trio of Jana Peterkova of the Czech Republic, Brandi Jackson of Greenville, S.C., and non-exempt LPGA Tour member Jeanne Cho-Hunicke of Longwood, Fla.

With her brother Martin Peterka on her bag this week as caddie -- still a little jet-lagged from his Tuesday flight from Prague – Peterkova rolled in birdies on four of her first five holes and tallied 26 putts for the day. She bogeyed the 12th and 13th holes, but drained a three-foot birdie on the 15th and another three-footer on the last hole to play the back nine at level par.

“I’ve been in this position before twice this year and I’ve learned from it,” she said. “I hope I can handle it a little better this time.”

Jackson hit 14 greens and rolled in 28 putts today, carding five birdies that included a chip-in from 20 yards on the 13th hole. The South Carolinian had three more birdie chances, and stumbled only on the eighth hole where she hit a bunker off the tee and missed her seven-footer for par.

“I hit it close all day and my iron play was really good,” said Jackson, who finished tied for seventh last week in Indiana and is still looking for her first win. “My swing feels much more solid, consistent and in control. Now, I just have to be patient.”

Patience has been the theme for the entire 2007 season, says Cho-Hunicke, who currently has conditional status and has played the ubiquitous waiting game to get into tournament fields on the LPGA Tour this year. Playing in her first 2007 tournament on the Duramed FUTURES Tour, Cho-Hunicke turned in a bogey-free, four-birdie round that included 13 greens in regulation and 27 putts.

“The biggest lesson I’ve learned this year is to not add pressure on myself and to just let it happen,” said the former University of Florida standout. “As a rookie on the LPGA, I’ve been on the waiting list a lot, and when I have gotten in, I felt rusty and not really prepared. It’s been a very difficult year for me and my expectations were pretty low coming here this week, so today’s round was really refreshing.”

Refreshing was probably also how Jordan Cherebetiu of Rapid City, S.D., felt about her scrambling play when she scored an eagle-2 on the par-four first hole – her 10th hole of the round. The former LPGA Tour member yanked her drive way left into some trees, and then used a 9-iron to fly her 120-yard approach over more trees and into the hole.

“It was the worst drive of the day and was pretty much off the map,” said Cherebetiu, who finished at one-over 73 on a day with no birdies, only four fairways in regulation and the single eagle.

Rookie Mindy Kim of Diamond Bar, Calif., and Emily Bastel of Upper Sandusky, Ohio, tied at three-under-par 69. Winner of the Tour’s tournament in McAllen, Texas in April, Bastel says a hot putter will make a big difference in this week’s 23rd annual event – the Tour’s longest-running tournament and its only 72-hole, regular-season event.

“If somebody gets the hang of those greens, they can go really, really low,” said Bastel, currently ranked third on the Tour’s money list. “This is a long bomber’s course and you have to post an under-par round just to stay in the tournament.”

Thirty-seven players posted rounds under par today, with 19 players carding even-par rounds of 72.

The field of the Michelob ULTRA Duramed FUTURES Players Championship, presented by Ameren, will be cut to the low 70 players and ties after the completion of two rounds.

Friday’s second round will begin at 8 a.m., off the first and tenth tees. Leaders Beth Bauer and Liz Janangelo will tee off at 1:06 p.m., and 8:09 a.m., respectively, Central Daylight Time.

For scores and more information, visit www.duramedfuturestour.com.

Weather: Mostly hazy sunshine with a high temperature of 92 degrees with wind at 9 mph.

Contact: Lisa D. Mickey, Duramed FUTURES Tour at (217) 875-5335 and at lisa@duramedfuturestour.com.