Wegman’s – 2nd Round

Mi Hyun Kim and rookie In-Kyung Kim are at -7 and share the lead after round two of the Wegman’s LPGA. Angela Stanford is third at -5 with Lorena Ochoa and Lindsay Wright tied for fourth at -4.

Playing in the morning groups, the Kims carded rounds that were among the best of the day – In-Kyung’s 67 actually was the best. As the day wore on, the wind began to pick up and forced the players into a guessing game with club selection in addition to drying out the greens. First-round leader Cristie Kerr staggered to a 75 (-3 overall), playing the final 12 holes in +5 and topping it off with a double-bogey at 18. Suzann Pettersen also posted 75, notching doubles at 12 and 14. Of the afternoon players only Ochoa was able to avoid disaster, getting in with a 71. The end result – only 18 players are under par through two rounds.

Consequently the cut rose all the way to +4 (at 2pm I was predicting maybe +3), allowing Sherri Steinhauer and Jee Young Lee to sneak in. Less fortunate were Nicole Castrale (+6), Juli Inkster (+8 – her first MC of the year), Julieta Granada (+10), and TLAT Grace Park (+12). Natalie Gulbis and Sarah Lee both withdrew – Gulbis because of her back again, Sarah for unknown reasons. I’m afraid the grind of the season is starting to claim a few victims. Hopefully all who are hurting will be ready to go at Pine Needles next week.

One of the few players ESPN cared to show outside of the two showcase groups today was Nancy Lopez. Fittingly, she was playing from the deep rough on 17. Nancy missed the cut by 16 shots after carding back-to-back 82s. In six competitive rounds this year, she has managed to break 80 only once (a 78 in round two at the LPGA Championship). It isn’t my place to say that this great player needs to forget about her comeback, but I will say that she needs to re-evaluate the situation.