WILLIAMSBURG—Lorena Ochoa, the world’s No. 1-ranked female golfer, shares the lead at 4-under through seven holes of today’s first round of the $2.2 million Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill. Hye Jung Choi (through 15 holes) and Seon Hwa Lee (through 11) also have reached 4-under. A group of five players at 3-under includes 2005 Michelob Ultra Open champion Cristie Kerr (through eight holes).

WILLIAMSBURG—Hye Jung Cho, Il Mi Chung, Jamie Hullett, Moira Dunn, Diana D’Alessio, Seon Hwa Lee and Cristie Kerr all are two-under par and tied for the early lead in the first round of the LPGA’s Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill. Chung has completed 10 holes, Choi has played nine, Lee five, Kerr three and the others have completed six holes.

This much can said with certainty about the LPGA’s annual visit to Kingsmill Resort: No journeymen need apply. The $2.2 million Michelob Ultra Open, widely regarded as the LPGA’s fifth major, produces formidable champions with remarkable regularity.

Kraft Nabisco title was a breakthrough for the 23-year-old whose four other starts this year included two missed cuts.

Lorena Ochoa, the tour’s leading money-winner and one of the favorites this week, will be working with a new caddie, Adam Woodward, when the tournament begins tomorrow. The change was made necessary by quirky misfortune. Ochoa’s full-time caddie, Dave Brooker, suffered a broken left foot two weeks ago in Morelia, Mexico. He was injured while playing in the informal soccer match that traditionally follows the third round of the Corona Classic. Ochoa’s coach, Rafael Alarcon, took over bag duty for the final round two weeks ago.

Annika Sorenstam, the defending Michelob Ulta Open champion, has no plans to come out of retirement. WILLIAMSBURG—Kingsmill Resort and Anheuser-Busch officials left no room for doubt: Should Annika Sorenstam ever wish to emerge from retirement, even for a week, she will find an open door and a warm welcome at the Michelob Ultra Open.

WILLIAMSBURG—The future of the Michelob Ultra Open apparently hinges on conversations that will take place among the LPGA, Anheuser-Busch and Kingsmill Resort following next month’s tournament. The two-year contract between Kingsmill, an Anheuser-Busch property, and the LPGA expires after the 2009 rendition of the $2.2 million tournament. Anheuser-Busch and Kingsmill officials said yesterday that a decision should be forthcoming before fall. The 2008 acquisition of Anheuser-Busch by InBev, a Belgium-based brewing giant, has raised questions about the continuation of Busch’s sports marketing strategy.

Brittany Lincicome was brilliant when it mattered most. Lincicome sank a 6-foot eagle putt on No. 18 to upstage her friend Kristy McPherson and win the Kraft Nabisco Championship yesterday, claiming her first victory in a major.

PHOENIX—Jiyai Shin moved into position for her second LPGA Tour victory of the year and fifth in eight months, shooting a 6-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead after the third round of the J Golf Phoenix LPGA International The 20-year-old Shin—hailed as “The Final-Round Queen” in South Korea—had a 10-under 206 total on the Papago Golf Course. After winning three LPGA Tour titles last year, including the Women’s British Open, she won the HSBC Women’s Champions this month in Singapore for her first victory as a tour member.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Most golfers figured it would be difficult for anyone to shoot a low number and separate themselves from the pack yesterday at Bay Hill. Sean O’Hair apparently didn’t get the memo. O’Hair opened with three straight birdies and didn’t drop a shot until his final hole, which gave him a 5-under 65 for a three-shot lead over Jason Gore heading into the weekend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Tom Lehman’s right elbow hurt so much that he couldn’t take the club past his waist, a case of tendinitis so severe it kept him out for five months. When he returned to the PGA Tour, he missed the cut four times in a row. “My game was in shambles,“ he said. “It was making 50 look all the more appealing, quite frankly.“

MEXICO CITY—Top-ranked golfer Lorena Ochoa is engaged. The 27-year-old Ochoa plans to marry 39-year-old Andres Conesa, the director general of Aeromexico airline, one of her sponsors. Local media reported Conesa popped the question late last month as the couple vacationed in Europe. Hola magazine’s Mexico edition said the pair was planning a wedding at the end of this year.

The Michelob Ultra Open has escaped, for at least another season, the nation’s ongoing economic crisis. The LPGA’s annual visit to the Kingsmill Resort on the lower James River occupies its traditional spot - Mother’s Day weekend, May 7-10 - on the tour’s 2009 schedule. The event, once again, will offer a $2.2 million purse, one of the largest on the tour’s domestic itinerary. But the future seems at best nebulous. The 2009 tournament is the last in the current contract between the LPGA and Anheuser-Busch, the event’s title sponsor. Anheuser-Busch was absorbed in July by European brewing giant InBev.