NW Arkansas Championship Saturday: Join the Birdie Train, the Birdie Train

I don't know why I have "Love Train" going through my head while looking at the leaderboard of the NW Arkansas Championship as the "morning groups" finish their rounds. The song was a hit before most of the players at the top of the leaderboard were born, after all, but somehow the opening

People all over the world, join hands
Start a love train, love train
People all over the world, join hands
Join a love train, love train

rings true for me.

Angela Park certainly knows about birdie trains. She scattered 4 birdies over her first 7 holes, but then made her second pair in a row to start off the back and finished with 4 in a row. When she was done, she had birdied 7 of 9 holes on that side to match Jeong Jang's 30 from the previous (part of the) day and surpass Seon Hwa Lee's and Kristy McPherson's first-round 64s by 2 shots. Her 62 brought her to -11 on the tournament (not -13, as people relying on yesterday's post for their LPGA news might have expected--LPGA.com screwed up, again, by giving her an eagle when she had actually made par), but not to 1st place.

That belonged to Meena Lee, who birdied 3 holes in the row on the front as part of a closing stretch for her in which she made 5 birdies in 8 holes to shoot a 65 and get to -12.

Cristie Kerr's 3 consecutive birdies came on the back side, helping bring her total to 7 in all for a bogey-free 65 that brought her to -7 for the tournament (T9 for now, with Helen Alfredsson, who could only manage a 72 today).

A pair of rookies were next to board the birdie train. Louise Friberg made back-to-back birdies twice on her way to a 66 that brought her to -8 for the tournament (T6 for now), while Eunjung Yi matched her to make the cut and move at -4 (T21 for now).

One veteran scoffed at mere pairs of paired birdies, though. Michelle Ellis made a hat trick on the back on the way to her 67 that vaulted her to -6 (T12). Jill McGill simply shot a bogey-free 67 of her own to get to -5 (T18).

Right now, however, there are only 3 players who got to double digits under par for the tournament. Kristy McPherson birdied the par-5 18th for a 69 to tie Angela Park for 2nd for now at -11. Jeong Jang extended her run of bogeyless holes to 32, but could only manage 3 birdies today, so joined Jee Young Lee at -9 (T4), who made 7 birdies (including 3 in a row at the turn) but could barely match her 69.

Depending on how the "afternoon" groups finish their rounds early tomorrow morning, the cut line could come as low as -1, which means that Mi Hyun Kim will definitely fall victim to it and that a host of big names definitely could.

More later, but while I'm gone, you should definitely check out Hound Dog's second-round highlights, which close with a runway clip of Natalie Gulbis and Anna Rawson.

[Update 1 (7:37 pm): Speaking of must-see .com TV, just came across the following on LPGA.com:

LPGA.com to feature live streaming of Sunday's final round.
Following CBS' live broadcast of the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship Presented by John Q. Hammons on Sunday, LPGA.com will continue to cover the live action in Rogers, Ark., with a video stream. Once the 1-3 p.m. ET live window on CBS is finished, LPGA.com will pick up the action at 3:01 p.m. and will go to the conclusion of the event.

While it speaks badly of CBS that they won't cover this shootout till the last birdie is fired, I don't care, as I don't have any tv feed, but I do have an internet one!]

[Update 2 (7/6/08, 7:20 am): Ah, I knew if I waited, Hound Dog would give the 2nd-round recap and keep me from jinxing Ai-chan, Seon Hwa, and Eun-Hee before they finish their last 2 holes today!]

[Update 3 (8:54 am): Great interviews up at LPGA.com. And great finishes by Na Yeon Choi and Inbee Park to post 65s and get to -8 and -9, rspectively. Ai-chan parred out for a 68 to join Park at -9, Seon Hwa parred out for her 69 to pull even with McPherson and Angela Park, and Eun-Hee parred out for her 65 to match Meena Lee. Moira Dunn has 5 holes to go and is fighting to stay under par and (hopefully) make the cut--as Hound Dog pointed out, it could get as low as -2!]

[Update 4 (10:08 am): Moira did it! Her bogey-free 69 brought her to -2, tied with Momoko Ueda and a bunch of others at T56. Meanwhile, H.J. Choi has a chance to become the only golfer to be at -10 after 2 rounds...]

[Update 5 (10:35 am): Some very interesting numbers thus far this week. 76 players made the cut at -1, so everyone playing today had at least 1 under-par round; in fact, only 23 players (I think) have failed to break 70 once, while 14 broke 70 twice. Whereas 9 shot 65 or below one day, only 4 were able to break 70 the other day. If Eun-Hee Ji, Meena Lee, Kristy McPherson, and Seon Hwa Lee can keep up that pace, one of them will be the winner. If not, there are 16 players within 5 shots of Ji and Lee, 9 of whom who haven't (yet) broken 66. If the leaders don't break the -15 barrier, the winner will most likely be 1 of those 9: Jeong Jang, Jee Young Lee, Ai Miyazato, H.J. Choi, Louise Friberg, Karen Stupples, Na Ri Kim, Heather Young, or Il Mi Chung. If it's not Seon Hwa or Eun-Hee, I'm rooting for Ai-chan (but I'd be happy for Jee Young or Jeong)!]