NATCHEZ &045; It may have been quite honestly the best thing that happened to Mary Kate Byrne Saturday.

It was almost a whole day of not driving the ball well, but on the 11th hole at the Natchez Ladies’ Championship at Duncan Park she drove one to the left that was out of sight &045; literally. The Cathedral golf standout couldn’t find the ball and was ready to come back, get a new ball and start the hole all over.

But then her fortunes turned a bit &045; the ball was stuck under a oak tree limb that had just fallen. She took the drop there and played on but later had a stroke taken off of her final score, according to the rules in such an occurrence.

Byrne finished the first day with a 95 to sit tied for the lead with Janet Murray heading into the final round of action today.

&uot;At first I couldn’t find it, and I thought I would have to start over,&uot; Byrne said. &uot;There was no way I was going to. I got some bad breaks, but it ended up I got a free drop out of that.&uot;

But at the time getting the ball stuck underneath a tree limb seemed about typical for a day where Byrne said things just didn’t go right. She got off to a slow start by four-putting the first hole, and she finished the front nine with a 42.

She did bounce back quickly with a birdie on hole 3, but she things went awry particularly after the hidden ball incident, leaving her with a 53 on the back.

&uot;I didn’t do real bad today, but I didn’t hit the ball well today &045; so that was expected,&uot; Byrne said. &uot;I didn’t hold it together mentally. When you don’t do that, you’re pretty much (down). You’ve got to have the mental part, or it’s not going to go well.&uot;

Yet she’s tied going into today with Murray in the five-person field. Murray finished with a 44 on the front but had a 51 on the back nine to finish tied.

Betty Hancock is third at 112.

Byrne, who won the city junior title with scores of 84 and 82, will try to get back today. The tournament is going without Mary Edwards, a four-time champ who claimed her third straight title last year.

Murray finished third last year.

&uot;My mom said I did worst today than I did last year, so I’m disappointed with that,&uot; Byrne said. &uot;That happens sometimes. You’ve got to come back tomorrow, concentrate and have a good time.&uot;

In the senior men’s championship, Eric Smith had a solid first day to establish himself as a four-stroke leader over Charles Yarborough. Smith finished the first day with a 73 in his first year eligible for the senior men’s competition, shooting a 36 on the front and 37 on the back.

Yarborough is in second with a 77, a one-stroke lead over defending champion Prem Vidhana. Yarborough had a 37 on the front and 40 on the back to stay one ahead of Vidhana and Frank Dominick, tied for third at 78.