Castrale's career-low 64 garners early advantage

Michelle Wie struggled again with her putting and slipped to 71.
HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. (AP) -- A string of birdies over the closing holes at Bulle Rock paid off in different ways for Michelle Wie and Nicole Castrale. It spared Wie a shaky start, and it sparked the hard-luck Castrale to a career-low round of 64 and a two-shot lead Thursday in the LPGA Championship.
Three days after Wie made a respectable bid for the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, she found that not much had changed in a major championship for women. She still couldn't make a putt.
"On the fifth hole I made a double and I was ready to yank my hair out," she said after birdies on three of her last four holes gave her a 71. "I hung in there and fought through the round. My hair is still in, so I'm happy."
Three-time defending champion Annika Sorenstam struggled at times off the tee and around the green, and the best she could muster was a 71 that left her seven shots behind the surprising score from Castrale.
Sorenstam in a slump
Sorenstam has not won in her last seven tournaments, and she was never in contention at the Kraft Nabisco Championship as her annual goal -- the Grand Slam -- evaporated. Now, she has some catching up to do if she wants to become the first woman to win the same major four straight times.
"I think it kind of summarized my year a little bit, so I'm not surprised," she said of her up-and-down day on a course that yielded two dozen rounds in the 60s.
Pat Hurst and Cristie Kerr each shot 66. The group at 67 included South Korean rookie Seon Hwa Lee, coming off her first LPGA Tour victory last week at the ShopRite Classic, and Dorothy Delasin, who played with Wie.
Karrie Webb, who won the first major of the year at the Kraft Nabisco, and Juli Inkster each opened with 70s.
"It was out there," Inkster said. "If you were going to play well, today was the day."
Birdies for Castrale
Castrale picked up three of her birdies from inside 100 yards, including her string of birdies on the back nine. She chipped to 4 feet on the par-5 15th, hit a sand wedge to a foot on the next hole, and choked up on an 8-iron for an approach into 8 feet on the 18th.
Castrale started on No. 10, and she played her second nine solidly to keep bogeys off her card and make her a surprising leader in the second major championship of the year.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.