Rookies Rawson and Feng lead all at Bell Micro LPGA Classic. After round one of the Bell Micro LPGA Classic, rookies Anna Rawson and Shanshan Feng share the lead, each with 5-under-par 67 scorecards. Rawson (32-35=67) recorded the lowest opening-round score of her rookie season with the aid of six birdies and just one bogey. The Australian gained entry into the field from the first spot on the alternate list after Natalie Gulbis withdrew before the start of the event, and she is playing strong in just her 10th tournament of the year in hopes of carding her maiden victory on the LPGA Tour. Meanwhile, fellow first-year player Feng (31-36=67) fired subpar scores on holes 15-18, including an eagle on 16, which was the second of her rookie campaign. Making the turn at 5-under-par 31, the lone Chinese player on Tour recorded a pair of birdies and bogeys, and she finished with the 5-under score for the day.

After a two-week break, the LPGA Tour resumed action with it’s return to Mobile, Ala., for this week’s 132-player $1.4 million Bell Micro LPGA Classic. This week marks the first time the LPGA has hosted a full-field event on famed Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, Magnolia Grove, The Crossings.

Quartet chasing leaders at Bell Micro LPGA Classic. A quartet of players including Nicole Castrale (37-31), Angela Park (35-33), Michelle Ellis (36-32) and Irene Cho (35-33) are tied for third place at 4-under-par 68 after the first round of the Bell Micro LPGA Classic. The foursome is close on the heels of first-round co-leaders Anna Rawson and Shanshan Feng who posted opening-round scores of 5-under 67 in their morning rounds.

Castrale – a Rolex First-Time Winner at the 2007 Ginn Tribute Hosted by ANNIKA – caught fire quickly on the back nine of the RTJ Golf Trail’s The Crossings as she carded five birdies on her opening holes before turning in a 1-over front-nine scorecard for the 68. Park, the 2007 LPGA Tour Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year, countered two bogeys with six birdies to match Castrale in the morning rounds, while Ellis carded one of the busiest scorecards of the day with seven birdies and three bogeys. Cho, a fellow member of Park’s 2007 LPGA Tour rookie class, matched Ellis’ afternoon scorecard while playing in one of the final groups of the day to join the group at 4-under 68.

The race atop the leaderboard of the inaugural Bell Micro LPGA Classic is tightly congested, as six more players including 2008 LPGA Tour winners Cristie Kerr and Yani Tseng are tied for seventh place at 3-under.

Coming off a victory, Kerr continues solid play. Two weeks removed from the most recent LPGA Tour event and her 11th career victory at the Safeway Classic Presented by Pepsi, Cristie Kerr continued her solid play and carded a 3-under-par 69 (34-35) in the opening round of the Bell Micro LPGA Classic. Kerr notched her first of five birdies on the opening hole of the RTJ Golf Trail’s The Crossings and followed with her second on the fifth hole to make the turn at 5-under. After playing the opening three par-4 holes on the back side with as many birdies, Kerr found back-to-back subpar opportunities on the 13th and 14th holes before countering those with a double bogey on the par-5, 463-yard 16th hole. She rebounded with a final birdie on the 17th hole to finish the day at 3-under and in a six-way tie for seventh place.

At the Safeway Classic in Portland, Ore., Kerr emerged victorious after carding a final-round 7-under 65 and defeated Helen Alfredsson and Sophie Gustafson in a one-hole, sudden-death playoff.

Nirapathpongporn collects second ace on LPGA Tour. Thailand’s Virada Nirapathpongporn (35-35=70, -2) collected the second ace of her three-year LPGA Tour career during Thursday’s opening round of the Bell Micro LPGA Classic. Nirapathpongporn holed out from 143 yards on the 17th hole of The Crossings – on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Magnolia Grove in Mobile, Ala. – with the help of a 7-iron. The Duke University graduate’s first career hole-in-one not only came almost one year ago (Sept. 27, 2007), but was also carded in Alabama at the Navistar LPGA Classic, which also plays on the RTJ Golf Trail in Prattville, Ala. A 2005 graduate of the Futures Tour where she won two events en route to earning her LPGA Tour card by finishing second on the season-ending money list, Nirapathpongporn’s ace was the 16th on the LPGA Tour this year.

Lewis 2-under after round one in Mobile, Ala. In the first round of the Bell Micro LPGA Classic, Stacy Lewis shot a 2-under-par 70 (36-34) to head into round two tied for 13th place. Lewis is attempting to become the first player to earn her LPGA Tour card via sponsor exemptions. Playing in her fourth professional event of the 2008 season, the formerly top-ranked amateur can compete in professional events via sponsor exemptions, and this week’s contest is her third exemption of the season. Lewis must finish in the top-80 on the season-ending 2008 LPGA Official Money List in order to earn a card for the 2009 season, and she can compete in a maximum of six official events as a sponsor exemption. The 2008 University of Arkansas graduate currently has earned $20,938, which does not include her winnings from the U.S. Women’s Open.

Downey records solid round in return to college town. Danielle Downey carded a 3-under-par 69(35-34) at the Bell Micro LPGA Classic in Thursday’s opening round. A 2003 Auburn University graduate, Downey returned to her college state to fire six birdies, a bogey and a double-bogey in the first round at the RTJ Golf Trail, Magnolia Grove course. The second-year player is playing in her 18th tournament of the season, and looks to make the cut for the eighth time in 2008. Her first-round 69 matches her season-low opening-round mark, as she carded a 69 at the Ginn OPEN back in April.