Ford Grabs Opening Lead At ILOVENY Championship

ALBANY, N.Y., Sept. 7, 2007 – Danah Ford played early and finished strong in today’s first round of the $100,000 ILOVENY Championship. The native of Indianapolis carded a five-under-par round of 66 to take the lead in the Duramed FUTURES Tour’s season-ending tournament.

“I just felt like I was due,” said Ford, a third-year professional. “All season long, I’ve been missing putts by a smidgeon. I’ve been really close. And I’ve been really patient.”

Ford toured the Capital Hills at Albany course today with a more willing putter than she’s used for most of the season. She rolled in 27 putts and converted for five birdies and one bogey. Her sparkling round came after a recent putting lesson with Long Island (N.Y.) teaching pro Jeff Gschwind.

“My lag putting was good and it’s something we’ve been working on for the last month,” said Ford. “I’ve also worked on shaping the ball better. I think sometimes we, as women, don’t feel like we can do that.”

Defending champion Ji Min Jeong of Kyungki, Korea put herself in good shape once again with a 67 today on the par-71, 6,120-yard course that she apparently finds to her liking. Jeong carded six birdies and two bogeys to move into second place in the first round.

“This is my third year here and I think I know this course,” said Jeong, who hit 13 greens in regulation. “I have good confidence from last year and I’m comfortable here. I just refresh.”

Jeong’s iron shots were crisp and on target on her front nine, and when the wind kicked up in the afternoon, she leaned on her putter. The one-time winner this year birdied both the 10th hole and the 18th hole from 45 feet.

Tied for third at two-under-par 69 was the trio of Allison Fouch of Grand Rapids, Mich., Mollie Fankhauser of Columbus, Ohio and Anastasia Kostina of Nakhabino, Russia. Fouch currently is fifth on the Tour’s money list, while Fankhauser is fourth.

“It was a good start and a good score for how poorly I hit the ball today,” said Fouch, who knows a top finish is key to holding on to her No. 5 position on the money list this week to earn a 2008 LPGA Tour card on Sunday. “There’s no excitement right now. It’s pure grinding and there are two more rounds to play, but at least I’m on the right track.”

Fankhauser, on the other hand, called the tournament “another week” of competition, downplaying the importance of her position on the leaderboard.

“The game doesn’t change at all,” said Fankhauser, who rolled in 27 putts for her six-birdie, four-bogey round. “It’s golf, it’s my job and I’m trying to keep moving up.”

Fankhauser said her biggest challenge today was not her nerves, but how the wind kicked up around mid-day, gusting to 21 mph. Once when she threw a handful of grass into the air, the wind blew from right to left, and when she looked at the flagstick, it was blowing from left to right.

Rookie Kostina -- who, along with her sister Maria Kostina (not in the tournament field this week) are the first Russians to play professional golf in the U.S. -- started on the back nine and scrambled to save par from 10 feet and 20 feet on her first two holes. She lost a ball and bogeyed her third hole (the 12th), had a birdie chance on the 13th, then finally drained a three-footer for birdie on the 14th hole. The Russian settled down and rolled in two more birdies on holes 7 and 8 for a share of third.

“I had a very interesting start, but it feels nice to shoot a good round,” said Kostina, who carded 23 putts today. “I haven’t shot under par in a long time.”

Today’s opening round was a mix of anxiety by players trying to stay in or move into the top five in the final of the Tour’s 19 events. And it even featured a bit of drama from the outside world when a state prison inmate, looking for his own Big Break, was nabbed just outside the gates of the Capital Hills at Albany course after a 26-minute chase. Several uniformed officers scurried around the clubhouse and through the woods of the course, looking for the inmate who had escaped an 11-man work crew in the area. (The fugitive had been convicted for an illegal drug sale.) Play was not disrupted and most players had no idea that the chase was going on.

Of course, another “Big Breaker,” Ashley Prange, winner of The Golf Channel’s “Big Break V: Hawaii” show, managed her own little bit of drama today when she scored a “hole in three.” Prange’s tee shot on the par-three 13th hole sailed dead right, hit a cart path and disappeared. The player hit a provisional and walked to the green, only to find her second tee shot in the hole.

“That’s when I told the spectators, ‘Don’t go looking for that first ball!” said Prange of Noblesville, Ind.

Prange carded a one-under-par score of 70 and is tied with Kim Welch of Sacramento, two-time season winner Taylor Leon of Dallas and Ha Na Chae of Seoul, Korea.

There was one legitimate ace today. Paula Pearson-Tucker of Miami, who teaches in the First Tee program of Miami and manages Lauderhill Golf Course (Fla.), carded her sixth career hole-in-one and first ace in competition when she smoothed a 6-iron 165 yards on the 13th hole. Unfortunately, the teaching professional carded an 87 (+16) and missed the 18-hole cut.

“I kept moving and I kept up, but I’m not out here enough,” she said.

The second round of this week’s 54-hole event will begin Saturday at 7:30 a.m., off the first and 10th tees. The leaders will tee off at 1:39 p.m.

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

Weather: Sunny and fair with a high temperature of 89 degrees. Winds around 14 mph with gusts up to 21 mph.

Contact: Lisa D. Mickey, Duramed FUTURES Tour at (518) 438-1431 and at lisa@duramedfuturestour.com.