Pak in LPGA lead; Wie 10 shots back
Sakamoto's 69 leads way in Jennie K.
Associated Press
MOBILE, Ala. — Hall of Famer Se Ri Pak shot a 6-under 66 yesterday to take a one-stroke lead over Brittany Lincicome and Wendy Ward after two rounds of the Bell Micro LPGA Classic.
Pak, who started on the 10th tee, had five birdies in a six-hole stretch on her final nine holes to top the second-round leaderboard at 9-under 135 on The Crossings course at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail's Magnolia Grove complex.
Pak, who has 24 career victories, won events on the course in 2001 and 2002.
"Of course I have such a great memory about it," Pak said. "I play really well and the scores are really low, too. That helps a lot.
"I know so many holes, where to miss, how to play, how to make the shot. That actually helps a lot, especially during this week."
Many of the players wore purple ribbons and wristbands with "EB" and a heart honoring Erica Blasberg, a 25-year-old tour player who was found dead in suburban Las Vegas on Sunday. The flag was at half-staff.
Ward had the low round of the day with a 65, six strokes better than her opener. Lincicome birdied six of her opening seven holes, but had a finishing bogey for a 66.
Hawai'i's Michelle Wie made the cut by a stroke, following her opening 72 with a 73.
The Punahou alum and current Stanford student made an eagle and two birdies to offset three bogeys and a double-bogey yesterday.
PGA TOUR
Rain stops Texas Open: Rain washed out the second round of the Texas Open in San Antonio yesterday, and PGA officials said more bad weather this weekend could push the tournament into Monday.
More than three inches of rain soaked the Oaks Course at TPC San Antonio, where leader Matt Jones and the rest of the field never got on the course. They'll try again today, when Jones will start with a one-stroke lead over Paul Stankowski.
"Sad. We tried," PGA Tour tournament director Slugger White said. "We did everything we possibly could."
Only the second round will be played today with tournament officials looking at a 36-hole final tomorrow.
CHAMPIONS TOUR
Four share Regions Charity lead: Joey Sindelar, Bobby Clampett, Russ Cochran and Peter Senior shot 7-under 65s yesterday in the Regions Charity Classic at Hoover, Ala., to share the lead after the record-setting opening round.
The 77 players in the field had a scoring average of 69.519 on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail's Ross Bridge course, breaking the tournament record of 70.397 set in 2002 when the Champions Tour event was played at Greystone. Thirty-four players were within three shots of the lead and 60 broke par.
Ken Green, playing his first stroke-play event since having the lower part of his right leg amputated following an auto accident in June, shot a 74. He had four birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey while walking the 7,396-yard course.
"It was hard, and I got emotional at times during the round," Green said. "The four birdies I made was fantastic. I had lots of good hope out there, and I'm encouraged going forward."
EUROPEAN TOUR
Swede lights up Mallorca Open: Pelle Edberg of Sweden shot a 6-under 64 in bad weather yesterday to tie James Kingston of South Africa for the second-round lead in the Mallorca Open at Son Servera, Balearic Islands.
Edberg had seven birdies and a bogey in a round that was disrupted by lightning, while Kingston shot a 70 for a 5-under total of 135.
Three players were three shots back at 138: the Spanish duo of Alejandro Canizares (70) and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (68) and Stuart Manley (68) of Wales.