LPGA TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS Four shoot 66 to tie for lead

Annika Sorenstam skipped the event to rest up for next week's final.
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) -- Grace Park got her season off to a big start with a breakthrough victory in the Kraft Nabisco. She's finishing quite well, too.
Coming off a victory two weeks ago in South Korea and three runner-up finishes, Park birdied the final three holes Thursday for a 6-under 66 and a share of the first-round lead in the LPGA Tour's Tournament of Champions.
"I birdied 6, 8 and 9 and that kind of got me excited," Park said. "Then, I stalled for a little bit. I was still hitting good shots. I made a great save on 10 for par and was just off a little bit, waiting for it to happen.
"And once it happened, it went boom, boom, boom."
Tied for lead
Juli Inkster, Laura Diaz and Christina Kim also opened with 66s on Magnolia Grove's rain-softened Crossings Course. Cristie Kerr, nursing tendinitis in her left elbow, shot a 67, and Lorena Ochoa, Rachel Teske and Wendy Doolan had 68s.
Annika Sorenstam, the winner last week in Japan, is skipping the tournament to rest for the season-ending ADT Championship next week in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Twenty-seven of the 39 players broke par in the first round of the event limited to tournament winners from the last four years and active Hall of Famers.
Diaz and Inkster had bogey-free rounds.
Inkster rolled in an 8-foot birdie putt on 18 to cap her round, while Diaz missed a 9-foot birdie attempt on the final hole that would have given her the lead.
"We had a few sprinkles, but overall we were pretty lucky," Diaz said. "You weren't getting much release on the ball out there. Because of the slopes, if you hit them in certain places, they still rolled down to the hole. The fairways were more wet than I was thinking. I did wake up in the middle of the night and I could hear the rain."
Seeks first win of year
Inkster, looking for her first victory of the year, and Kim made their charges on the back nine, Kim posting a 30 and Inkster a 32.
"I'm just really, really pleased I was able to come out here and break par in all honesty," said Kim, making her first appearance in the elite tournament.
"I didn't even know that I was going to be completing my round today. It was difficult for me to get into the groove of things on the front nine because you are always looking at the sky and wondering if you are going to finish. I said, 'You know what, just forget.' I think more than anything I just focused a little more."
Ochoa had four birdies, leaving her one short of tying Maria Hjorth's season record of 408 set in 1999. The Mexican star also had an eagle to push her record total to 20 and broke the mark for rounds under par in a year with 72.