Kung and Chang share lead

Canadian star Lorie Kane is used to working in less-than-ideal weather conditions.

"We played in all kinds of wind and cold, and I think you just have to take the attitude that as long as you're warm, keep swinging and keep moving forward," she said.

Kane kept it going Saturday, overcoming the wind and the rain -- and a rally by Annika Sorenstam -- to share the top spot in the Safeway Classic with Candie Kung.

Kung shot a 4-under 68 to match Kane (69) at 7-under 137, two strokes ahead of two-time defending champion Sorenstam, Janice Moodie and Carin Koch with a round left.

Grace Park (69) and Christina Kim (71) were in a group at 4 under after enduring wind gusts to 24 mph and occasional downpours at Columbia Edgewater Country Club.

"It's just a test of survival," Kane said. "You don't think of par, you just try to get shots and hit it solid."

On Friday, first-round play was suspended for more than an hour because of an afternoon thunderstorm and another squall stopped play as darkness fell. Thirty-one players had to complete their opening rounds Saturday morning.

Kane had an early second-round tee time, but was still pelted by rain and wind.

"There will be some people that this weather bothers, but I'm not going to let it bother me," she said. "Simple as that."

Kane has not won a tournament since 2001, when she held off Sorenstam in the LPGA Takefuji Classic. This season, she's had six top-10 finishes in 19 events, including a tie for fourth in the Office Depot Championship.

"This game is a game of patience -- and I'd like to bury that word because I've said it too many times -- but that's the bottom line: You have to be patient," she said.

Kung is still seeking her first tour victory of the year after winning three times last season. She's coming off her best performance of the year, a third-place finish last week in the John Q. Hammons Hotel Classic in Oklahoma.

"I'm happy with the way I played the last two days, and hopefully the weather will get better tomorrow and we'll have another good day," she said.

Sorenstam, who won last week after taking the month off, started the day at 2 under, then quietly crept up the leaderboard, reaching 5 under until a bogey on the par-4 15th knocked her back.

She recovered on the par-4 18th, holing a 40-foot birdie putt.

"It was a sweet finish," she said.

Sorenstam put herself in position to win in Portland for three straight years. She has won two other tournaments three times, among just nine times it's happened in tour history.

"It makes it a special day," she said. "But the bottom line is, I'm in a position to win a tournament and that's why I practice and that's what I look forward to."

Tour rookie Brandi Jackson, the leader after the first round with a 66, crumbled Saturday with an 82 to miss the cut.

Allison Hanna, who is from Portland and playing on a sponsor's exemption, was among those who finished their first rounds early Saturday morning.

"I'm ready to take a nap," she said after wrapping up the second round with a 72. Hanna finished at 1-under 143.

Cristie Kerr, who won the State Farm Classic this month for her third victory of the year, withdrew Saturday because of neck pain. She opened with a 75.

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