Alfredsson fires career-low 62 for Sybase lead

Golf Betting Lines

05/14/2009 - Clifton, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It was only the first round, but Helen Alfredsson was still nervous standing over her last putt.

"I never shot 62 before," she said.

Until now.

Alfredsson, an 18-year veteran of the LPGA Tour, fired a career-best 10-under 62 in chilly, rainy conditions Thursday to take a two-shot lead at the Sybase Classic.

It was one of those days, the 44-year-old Alfredsson said, when the game seems easy.

"When [you] play good, you wonder why you don't do this all the time because it's so easy," she said. "It's not strenuous, your head is not going crazy, your body doesn't hurt. At my age all that stuff usually comes along with it. So you don't know why."

Alfredsson holed a 70-yard shot for eagle at her second hole -- the par-five 11th -- then collected nine birdies the rest of the way while only making one bogey.

She established a new tournament scoring record, but could have gone even lower. She had a three-putt par at No. 18.

"I was actually pretty close to the pin all day. I hit some good shots, kept myself out of trouble, which is nice for a change," said Alfredsson.

Brittany Lincicome's eight-under 64 was also a career-best, but it left her sitting alone in second place behind Alfredsson.

Suzann Pettersen shot a seven-under 65 for third place and Ji Young Oh had a six-under 66 for fourth.

Alfredsson's low score means many top stars will have to play catch-up over the next three rounds at Upper Montclair Country Club.

Karrie Webb (70), Michelle Wie (70), Natalie Gulbis (70), Paula Creamer (70) and defending champion Lorena Ochoa (71) all posted respectable numbers that paled in comparison to Alfredsson's 62.

"She's a streaky player. When she gets hot, she's hot," said Pettersen. "Obviously she played pretty good today."

Alfredsson followed her eagle at No. 11 with three consecutive birdies, including a chip-in from the edge of the green at the 13th.

She made her only bogey of the round at the 15th, where she three-putted, but followed that with two straight birdies to make the turn in just 30 shots.

At that point, a 59 was not out of the question.

Annika Sorenstam, who announced her retirement ahead of this tournament last year, is the only LPGA Tour player who has ever shot a 59 in competition.

Alfredsson's scoring barrage slowed down on the front nine, however, although she did manage to make four more birdies. A six-foot birdie putt at the par- three eighth -- and that "nervous" par putt on No. 9 -- secured her lowest round in 365 LPGA Tour events.

Last year was a comeback season of sorts for the seven-time LPGA Tour winner from Sweden.

After a herniated disk limited her to just 11 events in 2007 -- she also captained the losing European Solheim Cup team that year -- Alfredsson won twice in 2008, including the lucrative Evian Masters.

"I just wanted to give it two more years," she said. "I felt as good as I've done since I started playing, and it was just fun to get another chance at it.

"It would be nice to do it again."

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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