Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Friday: Creamer Extends Lead on Ji to 6

Paula Creamer fired a 65, the best round of the day at the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic for the 2nd day in a row, but extended her lead on Eun-Hee Ji only by 1 shot, thanks to a bogey-free 66 from the lone player in the field coming close to keeping pace with her. With 18 birdies and 1 bogey to her name, Creamer has a 6-shot lead on Ji, who has managed "merely" 12 birdies and 1 bogey in 36 holes. The only player to tie Creamer today was Guilia Sergas, on the strength of a 5-under-par 32 on the back, but as she's stuck in a tie for 9th place, 12 shots behind her, it's almost not too soon to call that too little, too late. In fact, given that there are only 3 players within 10 shots of Creamer (Rachel Hetherington and H.J. Choi are at -7), it's safe to say now that this is her tournament to lose.

It's more interesting to do some Women's British Open speculation. Here are the top players in the field who aren't already fully exempt for the WBO:

Stacy Lewis (-6)
Young Kim (-6)
Moira Dunn (-5)
Guilia Sergas (-5)
Jennifer Rosales (-5)
Paige Mackenzie (-4)

As you can see, Sergas's 65 was quite meaningful in this race. But were Stacy Lewis an LPGA member, she would be the low qualifier. We'll have to see how this plays out. More later!

[Update 1 (7:01 pm): Hound Dog's 2nd-round recap puts Creamer's performance in perspective!]

[Update 2 (7:50 pm): Hmm, maybe the LPGA is "disappearing" Lewis after all--no interviews with her on LPGA.com today. Time to check the local media!]

[Update 3 (8:01 pm): Golf Observer calls Paula Creamer the defending champion, but their run-down of media coverage of the Farr is worth checking out. Nothing yet on round 2....]

[Update 4 (7/12/08, 9:24 am): Here's the word on the WBO qualifiers via the Toledo Blade:

BRITISH QUALIFIER: Based on their 36-hole scores at the Farr Classic, four golfers qualified for the Women's British Open in Berkshire, England, on July 31-Aug. 3. They are Moira Dunn, Katie Futcher, Paige Mackenzie and Gloria Park.

"Today when I was playing, I tried not to think about it at all," said Futcher, who is tied for 15th place at 4-under par. "I was just trying to think about what shot I needed to hit at the time, so that really helped me.

"I think it would be pretty cool to go."

Three golfers are tied for the final Open spot--Brandi Burton, Shanshan Feng and Eunjung Yi. Their third-round scores today will determine who claims the final berth.

My bad on getting the list so wrong--guess Kim and Sergas and Rosales were already qualified--but this just makes the exclusion of Stacy Lewis even worse, in my eyes!]