Mallon holds on to narrow lead

Meg Mallon was hoping today's round in the LPGA Memorial of Naples would set her up for the weekend.

When the day was done, she was indeed in perfect shape for the weekend's two rounds, leading the field by a stroke midway through the $850,000 event.

Mallon had a 1-under 71 Friday on The Club at The Strand course after shooting an 8-under 64 in the first round.

Because she teed off in the morning, when the temperature was in the low 40s and the wind was blowing, Mallon figured the field would catch her in the afternoon.

"I left some putts short out there on the front side, but I can't do that to myself," Mallon said. "I know getting an under-par round is good today. Hopefully, no one will get too far away for the weekend.

"The conditions are perfect this afternoon. I expect some low scores."

Rookie Jen Hanna, 45-year-old Dale Eggeling and Tina Barrett were tied for second, a shot behind Mallon at 8-under 136. Jennifer Feldott, who eagled her final hole, was tied with Hall of Famer Betsy King, Nancy Scranton and Jane Crafter two strokes behind Mallon.

Also making the cut was 20-year-old Grace Park. The South Korean rookie, the 1998 U.S. Women's Amateur champion and 1999 NCAA individual winner, was at 1-under 145 in her first event as an LPGA Tour member. She shot a 75 on Friday.

Catherine Cartwright, a 16-year-old amateur in on a sponsor's exemption, had a 5-under 67. Cartwright, who is at 2-under for the tournament, is from nearby Bonita Springs and won the Florida Class 2A state title last fall.

Cartwright became the youngest to make the cut in an LPGA Tour event since Park, who was 16 when she qualified for the weekend rounds of the U.S. Women's Open in 1995.

Scranton, seeking her first victory since 1992, held a one-shot lead through most of the back nine, only to bogey three of the last six holes, including a three-putt from eight feet on the final hole.

"I really didn't hit it well," Scranton said. "It was a hard way to end after working so hard."

Eggeling was one of the players who took advantage of the better scoring conditions in the afternoon. She birdied six of seven holes at one point and ended with a 66, tying Crafter for low score of the day.

"It started warming up," Eggeling said. "As the day went on, the wind subsided a little bit. It was perfect scoring conditions. It's fun when you get on rolls like this."

Although King said she didn't hit the ball well, the veteran who hasn't won since 1997 got to 3-under-par to get into contention.

"We got very fortunate, I think, with the weather," King said. "The wind never really came up that much. I'm happy to be in the hunt going into the weekend."

Mallon started off with a birdie on No. 10, her first hole, but didn't make another birdie for 14 holes, until No. 7.

"It (wind) came out of the north today and changed the golf course completely, especially that back nine that was playing downwind on the par-5s," Mallon said. "It felt like you had a good chance to score yesterday. It played totally different today."

Sunday's champion receives $127,500.

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