Late birdies lift Moodie in to lead

Janice Moodie birdied two of the last three holes today for a 3-under-par 68 and a two-stroke lead over fast-closing Juli Inkster and four others after the second round of the ShopRite LPGA Classic.

Inkster, who won the LPGA Championship on Sunday, birdied five of the final seven holes en route to a 66 that put here at 6-under 136 along with Maria Hjorth (63), Jackie Gallagher-Smith (70), Dina Ammaccapane (66) and Vickie Odegard (67).

Inkster, who has two victories, three seconds and two third-place finishes in 11 events this year, has to be considered the favorite on Sunday, especially with Moodie looking for her first career victory.

The 27-year-old Scot had six birdies and three bogeys to finish at 8-under 134 on the Bay Course at the Seaview Marriott Resort.

''I've been out here three years and chopping on the door a long time now, and having some really good finishes,'' said Moodie, who tied for second this year in Los Angeles. ''So I just want to wait and see what happens.''

If Moodie wants to win, she will probably have to go low because the course is giving up some great scores.

Hjorth, who was seven shots behind the leaders after the first round, tied the tournament record set by Se Ri Pak last year with her 63 that featured six birdies and an eagle.

Pak missed the cut at 2 over by shooting a 75 on Saturday.

Inkster posted her 5-under round playing in the final group of the day. She got her round going by hitting a pitching wedge to 2 feet on the 12th hole and added birdie putts of 12, 15, 5 and 4 feet down the stretch. She saved par on the 18th, making a 12-footer.

''You can look at the scoreboard all you want but when you are trying as hard as you can, sometimes it just doesn't do what you want it to,'' Inkster said. ''I was just trying to keep grinding and have some putts at a birdie, which I finally did on the back side.''

Gallagher Smith, who shared the first-round lead with Moodie and Michelle Estill, had five birdies and four bogeys.

Odegard, who had missed 14 of 15 cuts coming into this event, birdied the final three holes en route to a 67.

Ammaccapane had a bogey and six birdies, the last three coming on the final three holes.

Moodie has led once before. She held a two-shot lead going into the final round of the State Farm Rail Classic in September, but shot a 73 and tied for second, a shot behind Mi Hyun Kim.

Being in the lead didn't effect Moodie's dry sense of humor when she was asked if she would be able to relax on Saturday night.

''Being blonde, I'll just go back and think about nothing,'' she deadpanned.

Hjorth's 63 was 10 shots better than her first round.

''Yesterday I was really struggling,'' Hjorth said. ''My swing was getting flat and I was hooking shots all day.''

So Hjorth spent between 90 minutes and two hours at the range, and it worked wonders.

The Swede made a 7-foot eagle putt on the par-5 third hole. None of her birdies putts was longer than 12 feet.

Estill, who is looking for her first win since her rookie season in 1991, held the lead at 7 under after 11 holes, but she played the last five holes in 4 over.

Jean Zedlitz, who has missed the cut in eight of 13 events and finished no better than a tie for 57th in the other five, won a Subaru Legacy Outback Wagon by making a hole-in-one on the 170-yard seventh hole. She used a 7-iron.

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