Golf briefs for June 3, 2005

Friday, June 3, 2005 | 9:25 a.m.

Sorenstam, Kerr Creamer in field

GALLOWAY, N.J. -- Annika's back at the ShopRite LPGA Classic. That's bad news for everyone else.

Sorenstam has won the 20-year-old tournament twice and holds the record for lowest score -- 17 under par, in 1998. She skipped it last year, setting the stage for a thrilling final-hole showdown between winner Cristie Kerr, 17-year-old amateur Paula Creamer and Giulia Sergas.

But Sorenstam's shadow looms large this year.

"There's also 144 other players in the field, not just Annika," Creamer said earlier this week. "I mean, every week she's there, or when she plays, she's going to be in contention. But it's not one person that you're playing. You're playing the golf course."

Sorenstam, who tied for second in last week's Corning Classic, is still fighting a cold and taking antibiotics but said she feels pretty good physically and will be ready for today's opening round.

She has won four of the six tournaments she has played in this year and eight of her last 12. She's on a roll, and she knows it.

"Confidence is everything in golf, and I have that right now," she said.

Six share lead at Wales Open

NEWPORT, Wales -- Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez shot a 6-under 63 for a share of the first-round lead with five others in the Wales Open.

Englishmen David Lynn, Gary Emerson and James Heath, France's Benoit Teilleria and Australia's Peter Senior also shot 63s. Wales' Ian Woosnam, Europe's next Ryder Cup captain, was a stroke back along with England's Stuart Little.

The par-69 Roman Road layout at Celtic Manor is being used because the resort's main course, Wentwood Hills, is being renovated for the 2010 Ryder Cup.

Weibring at ease with last victory

D.A. Weibring can finally concentrate on playing golf instead of stewing about a shot that overshadowed a sparkling performance.

Weibring is defending his title at the Allianz Championship starting today, confident that he's at last free of all the questions and doubts over whether he grounded his putter on the final stroke of his victory at the Bruno's Memorial Classic two weeks ago.

Weibring was still explaining himself Thursday, though he said he's much more at ease now because he's convinced -- after watching replays, talking with veteran rules official Ken Lindsey and hearing from people who saw it on TV -- that he did nothing wrong.

What happened was that as Weibring was about to tap in his final putt at the Champions Tour event, the ball moved slightly. Momentarily stunned, Weibring to completed his stroke and made the putt.

The question was, did Weibring cause the ball to move? Instead of celebrating his 15-under-par score, Weibring had to wait until Lindsey reviewed the putt from three different angles on television replays and concluded there was no violation.

"He said, 'This is over. No penalty. Let's check your card,'" Weibring said. "He was very, very definitive on his position."

Yet it still wasn't settled in Weibring's mind because he not seen the replays. It was practically all he thought about getting ready for last week's Senior PGA Championship. He still wasn't enjoying his win.

-- Sun wire services