South Korean star Shin Ji-yai, seeking her fifth win in 11 months, shot a four-under 68 to vault to a four-stroke lead at the storm-plagued Wegmans LPGA on Friday.
Play was interrupted by thunderstorms for nearly five hours, then called off as darkness fell. In all, 71 players failed to complete their second round, including Tiger Woods’ niece, Cheyenne Woods, who was battling to make the cut.
Morgan Pressel was in second place at eight-under through 13 holes.
PHOTO: AFP
That was one better than Kristy McPherson on the same hole, Michelle Wie through 10 holes and Stacy Lewis through 14 holes. First-round leader Sandra Gal of Germany, blaming fatigue for a string of wayward tee shots on the back nine, shot a one-over 73 to drop to seven-under.
Taiwan’s Yani Tseng was on one-under after 13 holes of her second round. Compatriots Candie Kung (three-over after 14), Amy Hung (four-over after 18) and Teresa Lu (five-over after 18) were all likely to miss the cut.
Last year, Shin became the first non-US LPGA player to win three events. She reeled in the women’s British Open last August, then followed with late-season wins at the Mizuno Classic and ADT Championship. In March, she captured the HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore for her first victory as a tour member.
Her steadfast accuracy off the tee and the fairways got her within three feet for early birdies on three and four. Her only bogey came when she caught a green-side bunker at 10. As Gal faltered, she took the lead with an eight-foot birdie putt on 14 and widened the gap atop the leaderboard when she birdied from six feet at the par-five 17th.
Woods, making her first start on the professional tour by way of a sponsor exemption, was at one-over through 10 holes. If that score holds up, it might just be enough to get the 18-year-old into the rest of the weekend’s play.
The US$2 million tournament drew 18 of the season’s top 20 money winners, including No. 1 Cristie Kerr, who was at one-under through 12 holes. Absent is world No. 1 Lorena Ochoa.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
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