Cristie Kerr holds a one-stroke lead over Paula Creamer at the halfway stage of the US Women's Open at Saucon Valley's Old Course.
Rollercoaster round for 2007 champion
Cristie Kerr holds a one-stroke lead over Paula Creamer at the halfway stage of the US Women's Open at Saucon Valley's Old Course in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Kerr, the 2007 champion, fired a one-under-par 70 on Friday to stand on a three-under total, while Creamer holed a 35-foot birdie putt at the last to finish with a 68.
One stroke further back was another American, Jean Reynolds, who shot a 72.
Tied for fourth on level-par are first-round leader Choi Na-yeon of South Korea (74) and Italy's Giulia Sergas, who fired a tournament low 67 despite bogeying the 18th.
Kerr had a rollercoaster round that had placed her in a three-stroke lead after three successive birdies from the 15th, her sixth hole of the day.
After the turn she bogeyed two in a row and then immediately birdied the next two.
"I made a couple of bad shots and that led to a couple of bogeys in the middle of the round, but I played great," said Kerr, who has one win and seven other top-10s this season.
"I made a lot of birdies and got the momentum back when I needed it."
Injections
Creamer, who needed painkilling injections on an injured thumb that kept her out of the last two tournaments, made five birdies and two bogeys.
She saved the best for last by sinking a big-breaking birdie putt at 18 that brought a big roar from the gallery.
"It's exciting," said Creamer, eight-times a winner on the tour but still seeking her maiden major. "That was nice on the last hole in front of everybody."
Kerr, Reynolds and Lorena Ochoa were one shot back of Choi after the first round but found themselves tied for the lead by the time they teed off.
Unlike Kerr, however, world number one Ochoa failed to take advantage and posted an eight-over-par 79 for a six-over total.
"It was the whole package, everything was bad today," the Mexican said.
However, with the cut being set at nine-over-par 151, Ochoa's round was still good enough for her to qualify for weekend.
Among those missing the cut were 1998 champion Pak Se-ri of South Korea (153), 2008 LPGA Championship winner Yani Tseng of Taiwan (156) and 13-year-old amateur Feng Yueer of China (164).
South Koreans Ji Eun-hee (72) and Kim Song-hee (69) were tied on one-over-par, one shot better than a large group that included Australian Lindsey Wright, American Kraft Nabisco winner Brittany Lincicome and American amateur Alexis Thompson.
The 14-year-old Thompson added a 73 to her opening 71.
