Scranton shares Rail Classic lead

Nancy Scranton holed a bunker shot for her fifth straight birdie en route to a 6-under-par 66 and a share of the first-round lead in the State Farm Rail Classic in Springfield, Illinois.

Nancy Scranton holed a bunker shot for her fifth straight birdie en route to a 6-under-par 66 and a share of the first-round lead in the State Farm Rail Classic in Springfield, Illinois.

Scranton, a native of Centralia, two-putted for birdie on the par-5 fourth hole, made three straight 15-foot putts and finished the run with the bunker shot on the par-5 eighth on Friday.

"This is my home tournament. This and St. Louis. I have a lot of friends here," said Scranton, 39, who won the Subaru Memorial of Naples in January for her third tour title.

"I was scraping it out there. I just didn't hit is as well as I could. I usually hit it pretty solid. I was starting to get frustrated out there, but I hit good shots coming in. That was really a good shot on No. 8, it just wasn't enough club. I just misjudged it. I think on the back nine, I hit a lot of good shots."

Defending champion Mi Hyun Kim of South Korea, Laurel Kean and Canada's Lorie Kane also opened with 66s on The Rail Golf Course. Kristi Albers shot a 67, and Australian star Karrie Webb topped a four-player group at 68.

Webb, who matched the tour record last week with a 61 in her Oldsmobile Classic victory, has six LPGA victories this year and leads the money list with dlrs 1,680,828.

"I'm very satisfied with how I played today," Webb said. "I made a lot of good putts and I missed a few. It could've been lower and it could have been higher.

She had six birdies and two bogeys.

"There were some pretty tough pins out there," Webb said. "They're stuck on little swells or just over them. I think definitely they're trying to keep the scoring down a little bit."

Kim had five birdies on the back nine.

"I like this course," Kim said. "I have only good feelings here. Even on the difficult holes."

Kean had to go two extra holes Monday to edge Caroline Gowan for the last qualifying spot in the tournament.

"Tomorrow I just want to go out and have the same feeling on the golf course that I had today," she said. "I really had fun."