SBS Open at Turtle Bay 2006

Joo Mi Kim tied the tournament record with a 7-under 65 on Friday for a share of the second-round lead with Sung Ah Yim (66) and Becky Iverson at 9-under 135.

The three were in the morning session, which had an easy time in balmy and unusually calm conditions on the Turtle Bay Resort's oceanside Arnold Palmer Course. But the conditions picked up later in the day, challenging the afternoon players.

Former University of Tulsa standout Stacy Prammanasudh (67) was 8 under and Soo Young Moon (67) was another stroke back. Rookie Kyeong Bae, coming off a two-win season on the Futures Tour, shot a 71 to reach 6 under.

The 21-year-old Kim, fourth last year in the Safeway Classic and fifth in the Sybase Classic, opened with a bogey but made up for it with an eagle on the par-5 third. Kim used a 7-wood from 195 yards, leaving her with a 5-foot eagle putt.

She then added seven birdies and a bogey. Her straight birdie putts on Nos. 7-9 were all within 5 feet.

"I have a superstition: If I bogey the first hole, I play well," Kim said through a translator.

Kim said she's eager to play with Yim, her longtime friend and teammate on the Korean National Team that won the gold medal in the 2002 Asian Games.

"It'll be fun. We're good friends, so there will be competition involved," said Kim, who used a friend as a caddie because her pro caddie had to return to Texas for the birth of a child.

The 21-year-old Yim said she was constantly checking the leaderboard to see where she stood. She sank a 20-foot putt for birdie on the par-4 10th.

"I wasn't really thinking about having a good season or anything, but I was trying to have confidence in my shots," she said.

The 38-year-old Iverson hasn't won on tour since the 1995 Friendly's Classic and earned by card her by going through Q-school. Her strong work with the irons left her with several makable birdie putts. She also had to finish three first-round holes Friday before her second round.

Iverson said playing on the Hooters Tour, where she earned $4,000 in each of her two wins, helped her confidence and prepare her for the season. She has a chance to earn $150,000 with a win Saturday.

She doesn't plan to hold anything back.

"Whether I play good or bad, the one thing is, I'm going to play aggressive," she said. "If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. But I don't think you get anywhere by playing safe on this tour. These young kids aren't afraid of anything, so you just have to go for it."

Lorena Ochoa also tied the tournament record with a 65 and was at 5 under along with Natalie Gulbis (67), Hee-Won Han (67), Sherri Turner (71) and 17-year-old rookie Morgan Pressel (69), the U.S. Amateur champion and U.S. Women's Open runner-up.

Pressel, who caused a stir a couple weeks ago by saying Michelle Wie should have to qualify for the U.S. Women's Open instead of getting an exemption, said she doesn't have anything against the 16-year-old star from Hawaii.

"I didn't mean anything, especially against Michelle," Pressel said. "I just made a statement that everybody else has to qualify and I'm going to stick by that statement. But it will obviously come down to what the USGA says, but it was definitely nothing personal. That's for sure."

Wie is not playing the SBS, despite tying for second last year.

"We get along fine," Pressel said. "We obviously don't see each other that often, but whenever we do, there's never any problems. We sit and chat or say, 'Hi,' when we walk by. But there's certainly nothing there."

The teen phenoms are entered in next week's Fields Open.

Grace Park (74) who was shared the first-round lead with Iverson, opened with a birdie on No. 10 to move to 7 under but struggled with a double bogey and two bogeys in her next six holes. She was at 4-under 140 with Christina Kim, Pat Hurst and others.

Ai Miyazato shot a 75 and was at 1 over, just making the cut by a stroke. She struggled with her putter and had a horrible back nine with four bogeys after making the turn at 3 under.

Miyazato again had the largest crowd following her every move including dozens of journalists from her native Japan and even sumo wrestlers Takamisakari and Ushiomaru. She played four holes in the morning to finish her opening round.

The 20-year-old star won the LPGA Tour qualifying school in December by a record 12-shot margin, after winning 11 times on the Japan LPGA in the last two years.

Divots

Paula Creamer, the 2005 rookie of the year, had bogey-free 67 for a two-day total of 3-under 141. Defending champion Jennifer Rosales withdrew with an injured finger on her right hand. She was 5 over for the tournament and 3 over for the day when she withdrew at the turn.