4 Tied for Top Spot at LPGA Wendy's

Friday, August 25th 2006, 5:31 am

By: News On 6

DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) _ Kristal Parker-Manzo is going out in style. After shooting a 6-under-par 66 to share the first-round lead of the Wendy's Championship for Children, Parker-Manzo announced that she'll retire after the tournament.

``I've played golf for 36 years and competed for 29 years,'' said Parker-Manzo, tied with Stacy Prammanasudh, Jee Young Lee and Katie Futcher. ``It's not easy to walk away from it, but it's another chapter in my life.''

A shot off the lead were the top two on the money list, Karrie Webb and Lorena Ochoa _ along with Natalie Gulbis, Brittany Lincicome, Kris Tschetter, Tina Barrett, Mikaela Parmlid and Soo-Yun Kang.

Parker-Manzo, born in Columbus, grew up less than an hour from the course, but had just one birdie on her first nine holes. Then she birdied her final two.

``I just want to go out and have some fun,'' she said. ``It's time to go home and a be a mom.''

Parker-Manzo retired two years ago after sustaining an elbow injury, but found she wasn't ready to quit. Playing a limited schedule and missing a lot of cuts told her the time was ripe to hang up her soft spikes.

Prammanasudh, 20th on the money list in her third year on tour, said the conditions were ideal.

``It's really scoreable out there,'' she said. ``The greens are very receptive so you can fly at the pins if you have perfect yardage. If you fly it at the hole, you can't have more than a 10-footer.''

A rookie from South Korea, Lee posted an eagle, six birdies and two bogeys. She briefly held the lead after an eagle at the par-5 fourth hole, but fell back into a tie for the top spot with a bogey two holes later.

Lee shot a 64 in the opening round to lead the Safeway Classic last week, then faded to finish in a tie for fifth.

She said she learned a valuable lesson.

``Last week, I was too aggressive and hit my drives into the forest from time to time,'' she said through a translator. ``These fairways are much wider. I want to be a little prudent.''

Futcher, also a rookie, used a late eagle to vault into the tie for the top spot.

She had missed a 6-foot eagle putt five holes earlier. On her closing hole, she used a 5-iron from 177 yards and ended up 9 feet from the cup.

``Being in this position is new for me,'' she said after grabbing a piece of the lead for the first time on tour. ``It'll be interesting to see how I react. Hopefully I'll stay in the present and be calm.''

Webb weathered an up-and-down round that included a double-bogey at the par-5 14th, which many of the other leaders birdied, but followed that with birdies on three of the last four holes.

``I just sort of gave myself a kick in the butt and tried to put as many good swings on it coming in and see what I could do,'' said Webb, chasing her fourth win of the year. ``Finishing up that way really sort of erases the thoughts of the double.''

Ochoa, Lincicome, Tschetter, Barrett and Kang didn't have a bogey.

``That's a first,'' Lincicome said.

``That's rare for me,'' Tschetter added.

Gulbis predicted scores would remain low.

``I think 20 under would be a number if the weather stays good and the course stays the way it is,'' she said.

Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel were in the pack at 68. Defending champion Cristie Kerr shot a 70.

Mi Hyun Kim, the 2002 Wendy's winner, withdrew with a bad back.