Futures Tour Finale Saturday: Earl Strikes Back!

Hurricane Earl may have been leaving the eastern seaboard today, but he left a gift of high winds in the Albany region, wreaking havoc on most players' scores in the 2nd round of the Price Chopper Tour Championship. When all was said and done, 30 players ended up within 5 shots of co-leaders Jenny Shin, Dori Carter, and Jodi Ewart--and the gap between the leaders and those blown to the other side of the cut line was only 9 shots. LPGAers Reilley Rankin and Danielle Downey won't be playing tomorrow, nor will a trio of players who broke 70 yesterday (Melissa Eaton-Jackson, Veronica Felibert, and Kathleen Ekey), so those who put themselves behind the 8-ball today shouldn't feel too bad: Kelly Nakashima (68-77), Nontaya Srisawang (69-76), Tiffany Joh and Sofie Andersson (69-75), Sarah Kemp, Stephanie Na, and Caroline Westrup (69-74), Pornanong Phatlum (68-73), and Esther Choe (66-75). I recited the dishonor roll so that the players who stayed or leaped into serious contention get the respect they deserve for their rounds, particularly Ryann O'Toole (69, -2, T9), Jennifer Song and Michelle Jarman (69, -3, T4), and Jenny Suh (68, -3, T4). Nobody this season has won 3 times, but Cindy LaCrosse (70, -3, T4), Song, and O'Toole have a great shot at it. And with 6 of the top 10 within 5 shots of the lead, the race for the 5 valuable 2011 LPGA cards is still pretty wide open. Stay tuned!