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Hull leading way as Sorenstam struggles

  • Story Highlights
  • Australian Katherine Hull fires a four-under-par 68 to lead ADT Championship
  • Hull holds a one-stroke advantage over Koreans In-Kyung Kim and Shin Ji-Yai
  • Annika Sorenstam struggles in her U.S. farewell -- carding a two-over-par 74
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(CNN) -- Australian Katherine Hull fired a four-under-par 68 to grab a one-stroke lead after the first round of the LPGA ADT Championship -- while Annika Sorenstam struggled in her U.S. farewell.

Hull leads the way after the first round of the ADT Championship after cardinf a four-under 68.

Hull, who won the Canadia Open in August and was second in South Korea earlier this month, fired six birdies against a pair of bogeys to seize a one-stroke lead over South Koreans In-Kyung Kim and Shin Ji-Yai.

Swedish superstar Sorenstam, the former world number one who will retire after this year, opened with a two-over 74 to share 23rd place and was two strokes out of the top-16 showing she will need to avoid Friday's cut.

Also well off the pace was world number one Lorena Ochoa. The Mexican fired a 75 and faces the drop zone rather than the weekend without a fightback.

The season-ending $1.55 million event at Trump International Golf Club matches the top 31 players from the 2008 campaign in a format which cuts to 16 for Saturday and eight for Sunday's battle for a $1 million top prize.

That means Sorenstam, who has three titles and $1.7 million in prize money this season, will need to rally to avoid missing the weekend in her final LPGA tournament after a career that includes 72 titles and 10 major triumphs.

Sorenstam suffered four bogeys in six holes starting at the par-three fifth and continuing at the par-three seventh. She took another at the par-five ninth and began the back nine with another before making her first birdies at 14 and 15.

Ochoa followed a birdie at the fourth with bogeys at the fifth and sixth, a double bogey at the par-three seventh and a bogey at the eighth. She birdied the 10th, fell back with another double bogey at the par-five 12th, but added birdies at 14 and 16.

Hull birdied the second and fifth holes and parred the rest of the front nine. She began the back nine with a bogey but answered with birdies at 11 and 13, then took a bogey at 14 but responded with birdies on the next two holes.

Shin, the British Open champion who won two weeks ago in Japan and will join the LPGA Tour next year, opened with a birdie, added two more at six and seven and answered bogeys at 13 and 16 with birdies on the next hole each time.

Kim opened and closed with bogeys but had five birdies in between.

This event, which features 12 Koreans, is among three from this year's 34-tournament slate that is not on next year's schedule due to lack of a title sponsor after 2008.

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