Women’s Golf Tournament at Rancho Park : Three Share the Lead; Six Are One Shot Back

Nancy Lopez has won three of the four tournaments she has played at Rancho Park.

So it’s fair to say it’s her favorite course, just as the Riviera Country Club was once known as Hogan’s Alley.

However, she has company, plenty of it, for today’s final round of the AI Star/Centinela Hospital golf tournament.

Lopez, the defending champion, stumbled a bit Saturday and lost the lead she had shared with Robin Walton and Susan Sanders after the first round.

Sherri Turner, Danielle Ammaccapane and Martha Nause moved into a tie for the 36-hole lead of the 54-hole tournament at five-under-par 139.

Lopez, who shot a 67 Friday, had a one-over-par 73 Saturday and is now caught up in a crowd at four under par with Patti Rizzo, Shelley Hamlin, Juli Inkster, Ok-Hee Ku, and Walton.

“After you shoot a 67, you feel like you shot an 87,” Lopez said of her round, which included a birdie at the 10th hole, her starting point, and two bogeys. “I hit the ball well, but not toward the pin and I missed some birdie opportunities.”

Nonetheless, Lopez says she’s in a good position in the bunched field.

“Most of the tournaments I’ve won (a total of 39), I’ve won coming from behind,” Lopez said.

Ammaccapane, whose 67 was the low round among the leaders, was in the interview room when Lopez was still on the course.

The former Arizona State star, who is only in her second year on the LPGA tour, was asked about the prospect of being paired with Lopez.

“I was paired with her last year in the third round of the Rochester (N.Y.) International and I was nervous and let it affect my game (she shot a 75),” Ammaccapane said. “But I’m comfortable out there now. I’m out here to be right where I am.”

As it turned out, she won’t be paired with Lopez. She will play with the other co-leaders, Turner and Nause.

Ammaccapane, 23, a former NCAA women’s golf champion, had five birdies in her round of 67. “I struck the ball well and hit a lot of greens,” she said. “I’ve been playing well all year, but the difference today was in my putting.”

When Ammaccapane is not playing golf, she is a part-time bartender at her father’s Italian restaurant in Cave Creek, Ariz.

“It’s a half-hour from Phoenix, out there with the boulders,” said Ammaccapane.

Turner, the leading money-winner on the tour last year, earning $350,851, started on the 10th tee. She had a birdie at the 13th hole and then had consecutive bogeys at the 15th, 16th and 17th holes.

“I got off to a bad start and then I started talking to myself, saying, ‘Come on, come on, you can do it,”’ Turner said.

And she did.

Turner, who shot 68 (139 for 36 holes), had six birdies on her back nine and and almost had an eagle on the par-five, 470-yard ninth hole when her putt stopped an inch short of the cup.

She said she has put pressure on herself to perform well this year in an effort to match her performance in 1988, when she won the LPGA championship and was also the top money winner.

Turner, who has a tendency to get angry with herself, said she plays a game with herself on the course as a confidence builder.

She carries a pin-placement sheet with her, and she rewards or admonishes herself with a star system on a piece of paper.

Turner held it up to show her report card. A gold star pasted on the sheet is in recognition of a good shot. A red star signifies a birdie. A silver star is a good save. A green star means a bad attitude.

“I didn’t put a green star on today, but perhaps I should have,” Turner said.

Nause, who shot a 71, is planning to switch drivers for her final round today. She began using a new driver in this tournament but she said she’s going back to her “old faithful.”

“I’m the co-leader of the tournament, and I need to feel comfortable with my driver,” Nause said. “I got away with a lot of bad drives (Saturday) so I felt my luck was running out.”

Nause, from Sheboygan, Wis., who has only one victory in 10 years on the tour, recalls that she shot a 65 here in the final round of last year’s tournament, which is a good omen. She finished sixth after barely making the cut.

The cut Saturday was at 147 with 76 players making it.