Kerr guns for No. 1 at LPGA Championship

With Lorena Ochoa out of the picture, Cristie Kerr began her quest to take over the top spot in the women's golf rankings.

What better time to start than yesterday at the LPGA Championship in Pittsford, N.Y., the tour's first major since Ochoa announced her retirement in April.

Relying on her clutch putting, and untroubled by a heavy downpour that briefly stopped play early in the afternoon, Kerr shot a 4-under 68 to match Stacy Lewis and Seon Hwa Lee for the lead at the Locust Hill Country Club outside of Rochester.

Though admittedly "punchy" after a weather-delayed round that lasted nearly 6 hours, Kerr was not hiding her desire to go from being the top-ranked American to No. 1 in the world before this year is over.

"I feel that as far as No. 1 goes, I'm right in there," said Kerr, who opened the week ranked fifth.

Referring to Ai Miyazato, who took over top spot after winning the ShopRite LPGA Classic last weekend, Kerr added: "Ai's been really hot winning four tournaments. I'm going to have to do some special stuff for the rest of the year, but it can be done."

She'll get plenty of challengers after the first round of the $2.25 million event in which no one was capable of separating from the pack.

Inbee Park, the 2008 U.S. Women's Open champion, Mika Miyazato and Lindsey Wright were a stroke back, leaving a logjam of 16 players within three shots of the lead.

Paula Creamer, competing in only her second tournament since having surgery to repair ligament damage in her left thumb, was among those at 1 under. Creamer struggled with her putting, and played with her left thumb wrapped.

Anna Nordqvist, the defending champion, opened with a 73.

In other tournaments:

* At Munich, Bradley Dredge of Wales and Peter Whiteford of Scotland led the BMW International Open by one shot after shooting 8-under 64s in the first round. A group of four players had 65s: Ariel Canete of Argentina, Jeppe Huldahl of Sweden, Chapchair Nirat of Thailand and Phil Price of Wales.

* At Cromwell, Conn., Justin Rose birdied five of his final six holes for a 6-under 64 and a share of the first-round lead in the Travelers Championship. Rose, the Memorial winner 3 weeks ago who failed to qualify for the U.S. Open last week at Pebble Beach, missed a 12-foot birdie putt on 18, leaving him tied with morning starters Padraig Harrington, Charlie Wi and Mathew Goggin. Rose was 1 under through 12 holes, before making his run, which included a 34-foot birdie putt on 17.

* Seve Ballesteros canceled plans to attend the British Open at St. Andrews next month. The 53-year-old Spaniard underwent life-saving surgery in 2008 after being diagnosed with a brain tumor. Ballesteros had planned to play in a four-hole event for former champions on July 14, the day before the Open starts.