Golf / Safeco Classic -- Meridian: Good Webb Site -- Australian Can Become First To Three-Peat

KENT - Good things have happened to Karrie Webb both times she has played the Safeco Classic. Well, mostly good things.

There was that little irritation last year of her $16,000 Rolex rookie-of-the-year watch being stolen from her hotel room.

Police recovered it a few weeks after the tournament when a hotel maid tried to pawn it and was arrested and charged. The watch was inscribed "LPGA rookie of the year," and the pawn attempt was made in Kent, host city for the tournament.

"Pretty smart crook," Webb said yesterday.

This week, Webb, who is batting 1.000 in the Safeco, will attempt to become the first three-peat winner of the tournament at Meridian Valley Country Club. She is making last-minute swing adjustments and is counting on having them honed by the first round tomorrow. She also figures "the good memories and the feeling I have when I play around here will help me."

Webb is the only back-to-back winner of the Safeco. The two other multiple winners - Patty Sheehan (1982, 1990, 1995) and Juli Inkster (1983, 1988) - also are entered.

Webb, an Australian, has two victories this season, one in the Australian Ladies Masters. She ranks fifth on the money list at $566,713 and has played in 18 of 30 possible events.

The LPGA record for winning a tournament the most years in a row is four, set by Laura Davies at the Standard Register PING from 1994-97. Three golfers, Sandra Haynie, Kathy Whitworth and Louise Suggs, won the same event three years in a row.

Notes

-- The Safeco could produce a change atop the LPGA money list. Annika Sorenstam, with $806,188, leads Se Ri Pak by $6,122. But Pak said she doesn't care about being No. 1. "I just want to play golf and do my best," she said.

-- The 1-3 finish by sisters Danielle and Dina Ammaccapane in the Safeway Championship last weekend in Portland is believed to be the highest sister finish in LPGA history. Both are entered in the Safeco.

-- Amy Alcott, 42, who is stuck on 29 victories and needs one more to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame, withdrew from the Safeco. She hasn't won since 1991, when she captured the Dinah Shore, a major.

-- The two toughest Meridian Valley holes based on scores last year were the 380-yard, par-4 sixth (4.12 stroke average) and 363-yard, par-4 14th (4.25). The two easiest holes were par-5s - the 495-yard fifth (4.81) and 470-yard 18th (4.87).

-- Kirkland native JoAnne Carner, 59, on why she remains competitive: "I don't have the yips."

-- Kelli Kamimura, the Washington freshman from Sedro-Woolley High School who almost made the cut here last year, will have her sister, Jenny, as her caddie this year. Kamimura is playing on a sponsor's exemption again this year.

-- Stephanie Coleman worked at the Safeco in 1996 as a young go-fer. This year, she is playing in it. Coleman, a 1992 Federal Way High School graduate who took up golf only four years ago, got a sponsor's exemption. Coleman, who plays for Washington State, was selected after a summer in which she won four Northwest tournaments and made it to the semifinals of the U.S. Public Links Championship.

-- The Golf Channel is scheduled to carry the Safeco.

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Tee times

Tomorrow

FIRST HOLE

7:30 a.m. - Annette DeLuca, Cathy Mockett, Kate Golden.

7:40 - Leta Lindley, Smriti Mehra, Missie McGeorge.

7:50 - Mardi Lunn, Jenn Kangas, Nadine Ash.

8 - Laura Baugh, Luciana Bemvennti, Katie Peterson.

8:10 - Kathy Guadagnino, Wendy Doolan, Christie Kerr.

8:20 - Laurel Kean, Kathryn Marshall, Susan Ginter.

8:30 - Rachel Hetherington, Allison Finney, Erika Wicoff.

8:40 - Kim Saiki, Sherri Steinhauer, Cindy Flom.

8:50 - Tracy Hanson, Janice Moodie, Cindy McCurdy.

9 - Joan Pitcock, Amy Fruhwirth, Barb Mucha.

9:10 - Mayumi Hirase, Michelle McGann, Emilee Klein.

9:20 - Pat Hurst, Alison, Nicholas, Jenny Lidback.

Noon - Karrie Webb, Laura Davies, Penny Hammel.

12:10 p.m. - Patty Sheehan, Brandie Burton, Beth Daniel.

12:20 - Jackie Gallagher-Smith, Colleen Walker, JoAnne Carner.

12:30 - Chris Johnson, Annika Sorenstam, Deb Richard.

12:40 - Kelly Robbins, Pearl Sinn, Juli Inkster.

12:50 - Muffin Spencer-Devlin, Susanne Strudwick, Jean Bartholomew.

1 - Heather Daly-Donofrio, Kristi Coats, Kathy Postlewait.

1:10 - Kris Monaghan, Denise Killeen, Stephanie Lowe.

1:20 - Susie Redman, Martha Hause, Sara Hallock.

1:30 - Joanne Morley, Marianne Morris, Dale Reid.

1:40 - Caroline Gowan, Lenore Rittenhouse, Jerilyn Brits.

1:50 - Tina Tombs, Moira Dunn, Stefanie Coleman.

10TH HOLE

7:30 a.m. - Michelle Dobek, Jean Zedlitz, Angie Ridgeway.

7:40 - Becky Iverson, Mitsi Edge, Jody Anschutz.

7:50 - Diane Barnard, Marta Figueras-Dotti, Jane Crafter.

8 - Nancy Ramsbottom, Kelli Kuehne, Anna Acker-Macosko.

8:10 - Sherri Turner, Janice Gibson, Shirley Furlong.

8:20 - Nancy Scranton, Sharon Barrett, Caroline Blaylock.

8:30 - Anne Marie Palli, Patty Jordan, Elaine Crosby.

8:40 - Marie Hjorth, Dale Eggeling, Meg Mallon.

8:50 - Lisellote Neumann, Helen Dobson, Se Ri Pak.

9 - Danielle Ammaccapane, Jane Geddes, Carin Koch.

9:10 - Donna Andrews, Rosie Jones, Lorie Kane.

9:20 - Dawn Coe-Jones, Michelle Estill, Vickie Odegard.

Noon - Tina Barrett, Vicki Fergon, Cathy Johnston-Forbes.

12:10 p.m. - Gail Graham, Sally Little, Dina Ammaccapane.

12:20 - Lisa Walters, Catrin Nilsmark, Kris Tschetter.

12:30 - Charlotta Sorenstam, Lisa Hakney, Dana Dormann.

12:40 - Jan Stephenson, Wendy Ward, Michele Redman.

12:50 - Natascha Fink, Stephania Croce, Corinne Dibnah.

1 - Shani Waugh, Kristi Alberg, Leslie Spalding.

1:10 - Nanci Bowen, Nancy Harvey, Patty Schremmer.

1:20 - Pamela Kometani, Amy Benz, Barb Whitehead.

1:30 - Laurie Rinker-Graham, Vicki Goetze-Ackerman, Catriona Matthew.

1:40 - Jennifer Feldott, Lisa Kiggens, Eva Dahllof.

1:50 - Melissa McNamara, Jenny Lee, Kelli Kamimura.