Australian Women's Open Friday: Webb Stumbles, Leaderboard Tightens

Conditions remained challenging at the Women's Australian Open today, as only 4 players broke 70 and the cut came at +8. Karrie Webb did 9 shots worse than yesterday and fell 2 behind Korea's Chang-Hee Lee, along with Spain's Tania Elosegui and England's Georgina Simpson. Among those making a big move up the leaderboard were Curtis Cupper Alison Walshe, who recovered from an opening 77 with a 69 today, and fellow American Beth Allen, whose 69 moved her into the top 5.

Here's where the top 10 and notables stand at the mid-way point:

1st/-7 Chang-Hee Lee (69-70)
T2/-5 Georgina Simpson (73-68), Tania Elosegui (69-72), Karrie Webb (66-75)
T5/-4 Beth Allen (73-69), Marianne Skarpnord (71-71)
T7/-3 Joanne Mills (74-69), Justine Lee (73-70), Emma Bennett (72-71), Rebecca Flood (71-72), Hye Yoon Kim (70-73)

T12/-2 Lynn Kenny (72-72)
T14/-1 Christel Boeljon (74-71), Martina Eberl (72-73), Hye Yong Choi (72-73), Clare Queen (70-75)
T19/E Alison Walshe (77-69), Rebecca Hudson (72-74)
T22/+1 Il-Hee Lee (76-71), Beatriz Recari (70-77)
T26/+2 Melissa Reid (76-72), Becky Brewerton (75-73), Nikki Garrett (73-75), Diana D'Alessio (72-76)
T34/+3 Nikki Campbell (79-70), Rebecca Coakley (77-72), Trish Johnson (75-74), Anne-Lise Caudal (74-75), Sarah Oh (74-75)
T41/+4 Katherine Hull (76-74), Samantha Head (75-75), Laura Davies (74-76)
T51/+6 Gwladys Nocera (79-73), Tamie Durdin (78-74), Nina Reis (76-76), Aram Cho (75-77)
T62/+8 Titiya Plucksataporn (81-73), Kristie Smith (80-74), Stephanie Na (80-74), Lotta Wahlin (75-79)

Missing the cut were Simi Mehra, Ursula Wikstrom, Brandie Burton, Sarah Kemp, Kiran Matharu, Sunny Park, Bettina Hauert, Riko Higashio, Bo Bea Park, Frances Bondad, Clare Choi, and Yuki Sakurai. Ouch!

It'll be interesting to see which Webb shows up tomorrow and if anyone will put themselves in the mix on moving day. With a lot of the people who had been playing great the last several weeks playing pretty blah or worse, and scores see-sawing the way they have for so many players, this week is a great opportunity for everyone at E and better through 36 holes to really make a statement.