NO NU Lorena Ochoa takes lead at Bulle Rock
HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. - If there is any question as to what the fuss is over Lorena Ochoa, look no further than her round yesterday.
HAVRE DE GRACE, Md. - If there is any question as to what the fuss is over Lorena Ochoa, look no further than her round yesterday.
Ochoa, gunning for her third straight major title, turned in a near-flawless 7-under 65 at Bulle Rock for a 36-hole total of 10-under in the McDonald's LPGA Championship and a 1-shot lead over Australian Lindsey Wright.
Over the course of her seven-birdie, no-bogey tour de force, Ochoa not only hit 13 of 14 fairways and 17 of 18 greens, she also hit it close to the hole time and again, setting up almost "gimme" birdie putts.
At the fourth hole, she hit 8-iron to two feet. At the par-5 eighth hole, she chipped it to three feet for an easy birdie. At the 10th, she hit 9-iron to one foot. And at the 16th, she hit wedge to three feet. The only birdies she had to work for at all were at the third, where she sank a 10-footer, and the 18th, where she curled in a 20-footer.
"It was very easy," said Ochoa, 26, almost embarrassed by the ease with which she went low. "I did enjoy it a lot. Stress free."
In addition to Wright, who shot 68 yesterday, chasing Ochoa going into the weekend is first-round leader Lorie Kane, who shot 70 and is at 8-under. Three players are at 7-under.
PGA Tour
MEMPHIS - Tommy Armour III double-bogeyed No. 18 and fell into a six-way tie atop the leaderboard at the TPC Southwind after two rounds at the Stanford St. Jude Championship on a day when only 13 players were under par.
It was the most players tied for lead at the halfway point on the PGA Tour since a six-way tie last year at the Shell Houston Open.
Armour finished with a 71. He was tied with Gavin Coles, whose 64 was the low round through the first two days, Dean Wilson (68), Jason Dufner (68), Michael Bradley (68) and Marc Turnesa (69) at 3-under 137 - the highest 36-hole total on the PGA Tour since Angel Cabrera at the Open last year, when he was at even par-140.
Noteworthy
OBERWALTERSDORF, Austria - Austria's Martin Wiegele shot a 7-under 64 for a share of the first-round lead in the rain-delayed Bank Austria Open.
Australia's Scott Barr, Swedes Pelle Edberg and Christian Nilsson, Ireland's Gary Murphy, and Jeev Milkha Singh also opened with 64s in the tournament reduced to 54 holes after rain washed out play Thursday.
Heavy rain was forecast for the weekend.