KATHLEEN EKEY LEADS FUTURES TOUR EVENT BY THREE SHOTS

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE LPGA FUTURES TOUR

MARION, Iowa, June 3, 2011 – Kathleen Ekey admits she has been sniffling and stuffy with a sinus infection since mid-May, but as the old adage goes, “beware of the sick and injured golfer.”

The former University of Alabama player drained a three-foot birdie putt on her second hole today and never looked back in the first round of the $110,000 Ladies Titan Tire Challenge. She carded five birdies in her bogey-free round to post an opening score of 5-under 67 for a three-shot lead.

“This is one of those courses that can be really penal when you miss shots, but I hit 17 greens today, and that makes it a lot easier,” said Ekey, 24, a second-year pro out of Sharon Township, Ohio.

Ekey used her length to pounce on the four par-5 holes at Hunters Ridge Golf Course, making birdie on each of the par-5s.

With strong winds blowing throughout the day, gusting up to 31 mph, players rose and fell on the leaderboard, but rookie Paz Echeverria moved into second place alone with her round of 2-under 70.

Playing in Iowa this week after tying for 11th place in Brazil last week at the HSBC LPGA Brasil Cup, the Chilean called today’s round a “mini-battle.”

“I always have problems playing in wind, so I’m really proud of myself for beating the wind today,” said Echeverria. “I hit the ball high, so I tried to punch it more.”

The Chilean recorded 11 putts on her front nine holes with one-putt greens on hole Nos. 2-8. She carded an eagle-3 on the par-5 sixth hole when she striped a 3-wood to just over three feet, adding a birdie from eight feet on No. 7.

“Maybe the way I played last week [in Brazil] was the key,” she added. “My confidence grew up.”

Mo Martin of Altadena, Calif., and Tracy Stanford of Midland, Texas are tied for third at one-under 71.

Jean Chua of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2011 Futures Tour tournament winner Lisa Ferrero of Lodi, Calif., and Sofie Andersson of Angelholm, Sweden are all tied for fourth at even-par 72 in the kickoff of the LPGA Futures Tour’s Midwest swing in Iowa’s Greater Cedar Rapids area.

Saturday’s second round of the third annual Ladies Titan Tire Challenge will begin at 7:50 a.m., off the first and tenth tees. The leaders will tee off at 12:30 p.m.

For more information, visit www.lpgafuturestour.com.

Weather: Sunny and warm with temperatures in the high 80s with winds around 19 mph, gusting to 31 mph.

FIRST-ROUND SCOREBOARD

Par 72 (36-36). Yardage: 6,445.
1 Kathleen Ekey (Sharon Township, Ohio) 33-34 - 67

2 Paz Echeverria (Santiago, Chile) 33-37 - 70
3 Mo Martin (Altadena, Calif.) 36-35 - 71
4 Jean Chua (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) 36-36 - 72
Lisa Ferrero (Lodi, Calif.) 40-32 - 72
Sofie Andersson (Angelholm, Sweden) 35-37 - 72
7 Tzu-Chi Lin (Taitung, Chinese Taipei) 38-35 - 73
Whitney Wade (Glasgow, Ky.) 36-37 - 73
Leanne Bowditch (Queensland, Australia) 34-39 - 73
Natalie Sheary (West Hartford, Conn.) 37-36 - 73
Elisa Serramia (Barcelona, Spain) 38-35 - 73
Olivia Jordan-Higgins (Channel Islands, UK) 34-39 - 73
13 Carling Coffing (Middletown, Ohio) 37-37 - 74
Sara Maude Juneau (Quebec, Canada) 36-38 - 74
Ki-Shui Liao (Alameda, Calif.) 36-38 - 74
Dolores White (Lakeland, Fla.) 37-37 - 74
Min Seo Kwak (Seoul, South Korea) 37-37 - 74
Dawn Shockley (Estes Park, Colo.) 35-39 - 74
Jessi Gebhardt (Chandler, Ariz.) 34-40 - 74
Mallory Fraiche (New Orleans, La.) 37-37 - 74
Macarena Silva (Santiago, Chile) 36-38 - 74
Tracy Stanford (Midland, Texas) 37-37 - 74
Marcela Leon (Monterrey, Mexico) 36-38 - 74
24 Lyndsay McBride (Elkhart, Ind.) 36-39 - 75
Rebecca Samuelsson (Gothenburg, Sweden) 37-38 - 75
Kitty Hwang (Guayaquil, Ecuador) 40-35 - 75
Molly Aronsson (Shelburne, Vt.) 38-37 - 75
Lili Alvarez (Durango, Mexico) 37-38 - 75
Izzy Beisiegel (St. Hilaire, Quebec) 38-37 - 75
Madeleine Holmblad (Stockholm, Sweden) 36-39 - 75
Hanna Kang (Seoul, South Korea) 36-39 - 75
Laura Jansone (Jurmala, Latvia) 38-37 - 75
Jane Rah (Torrance, Calif.) 39-36 - 75
Brittany Johnston (Akron, Ohio) 37-38 - 75
Victoria Park (Irvine, Calif.) 37-38 - 75
Ulrika Van-Niekerk (Cape Town, South Africa) 39-36 - 75
37 Tiffany Tavee (Tempe, Ariz.) 37-39 - 76
Courtney Mahon (Lee's Summit, Mo.) 38-38 - 76
Kirby Dreher (Fort St. John, Canada) 35-41 - 76
Leah Wigger (Louisville, Ky.) 39-37 - 76
Ashley Prange (Noblesville, Ind.) 36-40 - 76
Cara Freeman (San Tan Valley, Ariz.) 39-37 - 76
Susan Nam (Edmonton, Alberta) 37-39 - 76
Miriam Nagl (Berlin, Germany) 36-40 - 76
Rachel Connor (Manchester, England) 38-38 - 76
Ashley Medders (Alma, Ga.) 38-38 - 76
Nicole Smith (Riverside, Calif.) 40-36 - 76
Sophia Sheridan (Guadalajara, Mexico) 38-38 - 76
Veronica Felibert (Caracas, Venezuela) 39-37 - 76
Melissa Eaton-Jackson (Port Shepstone, South Afric 39-37 - 76
Tanya Dergal (Durango, Mexico) 37-39 - 76
Marlowe Boukis (Lutherville, Md.) 37-39 - 76
Kelsey Verbeten (New Franken, Wis.) 37-39 - 76
Jenna Pearson (Wheaton, Ill.) 37-39 - 76
Lauren Doughtie (Suffolk, Va.) 35-41 - 76
56 Misun Cho (Cheongju, South Korea) 37-40 - 77
Maiya Tanaka (San Diego, Calif.) 35-42 - 77
Abby Bools (Hickory, N.C.) 39-38 - 77
Katie Kempter (Albuquerque, N.M.) 37-40 - 77
Aimee Neff (Carmel, Ind.) 38-39 - 77
Kim Augusta (Rumford, R.I.) 38-39 - 77
Cathryn Bristow (Auckland, New Zealand) 35-42 - 77
Ayaka Kaneko (Honolulu, Hawaii) 37-40 - 77
Johani Bakar (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) 42-35 - 77
Victoria Elizabeth (Dayton, Ohio) 36-41 - 77
Yu-Ling Hsieh (Chinese Taipei) 38-39 - 77
Ashley Smith (Calgary, Alberta) 39-38 - 77
Erica Moston (Belmont, Calif.) 38-39 - 77
Britney Choy (Wahiawa, Hawaii) 39-38 - 77
Alexandra Casi (East Palestine, Ohio) 40-37 - 77
Yi-Yu Cheng (Taichung, Chinese Taipei) 36-41 - 77
Sofi Toccafondi (Del Viso, Argentina) 35-42 - 77
Laura Nochta (Cortland, Ohio) 40-37 - 77
Kendall Dye (Edmond, Okla.) 35-42 - 77
Laura Kueny (Whitehall, Mich.) 40-37 - 77
Seul Ki Park (Northbrook, Ill.) 38-39 - 77
77 Stephanie Kim (Bayside, N.Y.) 39-39 - 78
Alexandria Buelow (a) (Palm City, Fla.) 39-39 - 78
Jodi Ewart (North Yorkshire, England) 40-38 - 78
Benedikte Grotvedt (Nesbru, Norway) 37-41 - 78
Mesha Levister (Louisburg, N.C.) 38-40 - 78
Briana Vega (Andover, Mass.) 39-39 - 78
Erika Malik (Hinsdale, Ill.) 39-39 - 78
Eileen Vargas (Ibague, Colombia) 38-40 - 78
Vanessa Vela (Bogota, Colombia) 40-38 - 78
Stefanie Kenoyer (Lighthouse Point, Fla.) 40-38 - 78
87 Gloriana Soto (San Jose, Costa Rica) 41-38 - 79
Pamela Ontiveros (Gomez Palacio, Mexico) 39-40 - 79
Danielle Mills (Pointe-Claire, Quebec) 37-42 - 79
Selanee Henderson (Apple Valley, Calif.) 39-40 - 79
Kristen Simpson (Norfolk, Va.) 38-41 - 79
Angela Buzminski (Oshawa, Ontario) 38-41 - 79
Seema Sadekar (Toronto, Ontario) 40-39 - 79
Annie Brophy (Spokane, Wash.) 42-37 - 79
Caroline Park (Seoul, South Korea) 37-42 - 79
96 Kelly Froelich (Raizeux, France) 40-40 - 80
Mayule Tomimbang (Kissimmee, Fla.) 39-41 - 80
Shasta Averyhardt (Flint, Mich.) 37-43 - 80
Jordan Hardy (Sylacauga, Ala.) 41-39 - 80
Ai-Chen Kuo (Chinese Taipei) 40-40 - 80
Sue Kim (Langley, British Columbia) 40-40 - 80
Rachael Schmidt (Elk River, Minn.) 40-40 - 80
Laura Crawford (Lancaster, S.C.) 36-44 - 80
Stacey Miller (Bloomington, Ill.) 39-41 - 80
Chelsea Curtis (New Seabury, Mass.) 37-43 - 80
Rhea Nair (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) 38-42 - 80
Elise Swartout (Ann Arbor, Mich.) 41-39 - 80
Emily Powers (Quincy, Ill.) 41-39 - 80
Nina Rodriguez (San Jose, Calif.) 40-40 - 80
Lacey Agnew (Jonesboro, Ga.) 37-43 - 80
111 Mari Chun (Pearl City, Hawaii) 42-39 - 81
Xyra Suyetsugu (Honolulu, Hawaii) 39-42 - 81
Elizabeth Dotson (White Bluff, Tenn.) 40-41 - 81
Carrie Riordan (Spring Valley, Ill.) 38-43 - 81
Nikki Hadd (Crestview, Fla.) 39-42 - 81
Juli Erekson (Chicopee, Mass.) 43-38 - 81
Kristin Vincent (Bulrington, N.C.) 43-38 - 81
Jutta Degerman (Kaunianinen, Finland) 42-39 - 81
119 Rebecca Kim (Tigard, Ore.) 42-40 - 82
Ashley Knoll (The Woodlands, Texas) 38-44 - 82
Kelly Godwin (Centerville, Minn.) 42-40 - 82
Christina Jones (Jensen Beach, Fla.) 41-41 - 82
Stephanie Na (Adelaide, Australia) 40-42 - 82
Lucy Nunn (Lawton, Okla.) 42-40 - 82
Jackie Barenborg (Vero Beach, Fla.) 38-44 - 82
Brittany Kelly (Fishers, Ind.) 39-43 - 82
Rachel Ingram (Benton, Tenn.) 42-40 - 82
Esther Moon (Nashville, Tenn.) 40-42 - 82
129 Maria Laura Elvira (Buenos Aires, Argentina) 40-43 - 83
Saehee Son (Seoul, South Korea) 39-44 - 83
Whitney Neuhauser (Charlottesville, Va.) 39-44 - 83
Michelle Shin (Cape Coral, Fla.) 42-41 - 83
133 Jennifer Hong (Granger, Ind.) 40-44 - 84
Alison Meyer (Duluth, Minn.) 40-44 - 84
Samantha Troyanovich (a) (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) 42-42 - 84
136 Fiamma Felitch (Oklahoma City, Okla.) 41-44 - 85
Angel Sze (San Marino, Calif.) 42-43 - 85
Lisa LaFollette (Mililani, Hawaii) 42-43 - 85
139 Karlin Beck (Pike Road, Ala.) 41-45 - 86
140 Melissa Mabanta (Langley, B.C.) 43-44 - 87
--- Missed 18 Hole Cut (score too high to continue) --
Seira Nakashima (Northbrook, Ill.) 43-45 - 88
Sydnee Michaels (Temecula, Calif.) disqualified
Alison Whitaker (Melbourne, Australia) no show.
Nicole Jeray (Berwyn, Illinois. no show.