(Palm Harbor, Fla.) - The ISPS Handa Legends Tour Open Championship is off to a thrilling start with a familiar face near the top of the leaderboard. LPGA Legend Laura Davies signed up for her first Legends Tour event this week and promptly shot three under in her opening round, finishing just one stroke behind the overnight leader, Laure Rinker of Stuart, Fla.
Davies sits alone in second place. Three more Legends are tied for third at one under par; LPGA Hall of Famer Beth Daniel, Nancy Scranton and Jane Crafter all posted tidy 72's on the par 73 Island Course at Innisbrook.
Current leader Rinker teed off in the second pairing at 8:10 AM, ducking a breeze that freshened later in the day and making birdie on three of the first five holes. Bogies on holes six and eight left her one under at the turn, but she shot three under on the back nine's par 5's to post the only round under 70, an impressive 69.
Davies chased most of the day, holding steady at even par through the first eight holes. Birdies on holes nine and ten got her to two under and sent a buzz through the crowd on 18 following the leaderboard. A hiccup on the par 3 13th cost her a shot, dropping her back three strokes until she birdied 16 and 17 to get it to three under. She stuck her approach from 18 fairway to 10 feet, but left herself a tough downhill putt from above the hole. Just missing birdie, she tapped in for a par to stay one back of Rinker going into the final round tomorrow.
Coming to 18, Scranton was three under par and looking to share second place overnight, but she suffered a double bogey when her approach found a tough greenside bunker above the hole.
Sherri Steinhauer, winner of this event in 2009, picked up two shots and got it to even with an ace on the par 3 17th. It was her third hole-in-one in competition.
