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Pak & Ochoa tied
for lead
Lorena Ochoa has been a model of consistency at the Michelob Light Open, playing
36 holes without a bogey. Grace Park's two rounds have included 11 birdies, four
bogeys, and an eagle followed immediately by a double-bogey.
They ended up in the same place Friday, as co-leaders with a 7-under par 135.
They led by one stroke over Suzann Pettersen, who bogeyed two of her final
three holes to give up the lead.
"Maybe I will go to (nearby) Busch Gardens and do all the rides and get
it done there and get it over with," Park said after a 3-under-par 68. "A
lot of great shots, a couple of misses, a lot of great putts. Lots of bad putts."
Cristie Kerr and Patricia Meunier-Lebouc shot 68s Friday and were tied for
fourth.
Annika Sorenstam, who began the day tied for sixth at 3-under, shot a 70 and
remained tied for sixth, three strokes off the lead.
Ochoa, 21, an LPGA rookie who joined the tour after consecutive years as NCAA
Player of the Year at Arizona, said she has worked to tone down her normally aggressive
play in favor of consistency.
"My caddie always reminds me: 'Patient, patient, patient,"' she said.
"I like to be aggressive and I like to make every single shot and I get very
excited, so I'm just trying to be patient."
Ochoa began the day tied for the lead with Giulia Sergas and Denise Killeen
at 5-under, with Park one stroke behind. Killeen, who made two straight birdies
Friday to get back to 5-under, then made five straight bogeys to finish well down
on the leaderboard. Sergas was 2-over through 17 holes Friday, when play was suspended
shortly before 6 p.m. because of lightning. LPGA officials were not sure if play
would resume.
The Kingsmill course, a former PGA Tour site, provided the best scoring opportunities
in the first round on its three par-5s. That changed Friday.
Park had an eagle and a birdie on the par-5s Thursday, but on Friday managed
only two pars and a bogey. Ochoa played the par-5s in 2-under on Thursday, and
even par on Friday. Sorenstam had an eagle and two birdies Thursday, but only
a birdie on Friday.
"I didn't hit the fairways (on the par-5s), so I couldn't go for the green
in two," Sorenstam said. "I was trying to be aggressive off the tee
... but I just didn't drive the ball as well today."
Asked what score will be needed to win the tournament, Sorenstam said, "I'm
going to try to get double digits and see where it gets me."
Pettersen, who missed a 4-foot par putt on No. 18 to drop out of the lead,
said it was her drive into the rough on that hole that got her in trouble.
"I was a bit sloppy, a bit interrupted by some noise," she said.
"You have to hit the fairways. The rough is killing you."
Club pro Suzy Whaley, playing on a sponsor's exemption, finished 8-over and
missed the cut. Like Sorenstam, who will play against the men later this month
at the Colonial, Whaley will play the PGA's Greater Hartford Open, after qualifying
for that tournament by winning a sectional.
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