1st-round leader Cristie Kerr was cruising through her 1st 30 holes in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational, making 11 birdies against only 2 bogeys, but the wheels came off in her last 6 holes today. 2 double bogeys and a walkoff bogey later and she had followed up yesterday's course-record 64 with a 76 and fallen to -4 overall.
In the meantime, plenty of players were going low. Meena Lee posted a bogey-free 65 to get to -7 overall, where she was joined by 2010 Rookie of the Year Azahara Munoz (67), Karine Icher (whose own 67 was sparked by an eagle on the par-5 10th that helped propel her to a closing 31), and a trio of golfers who broke 70 2 days in a row (Ai Miyazato, In-Kyung Kim, and Katherine Hull). Despite a walkoff bogey that snapped a 78-hole bogey-free run dating back to the Mizuno Classic, Stacy Lewis also broke 70 for the 2nd day in a row to enter the weekend at -8.
But they all were overshadowed by a Suzann Pettersen 65 that brought her to -9 and a Paula Creamer 66 that gave her a 1-shot lead over Pettersen. Like Miyazato in the 1st round, Creamer made 8 birdies, but it was Pettersen's closing 30 that stole the show. Even though the winless Song-Hee Kim fired a bogey-free 67 to climb to -5, it was Pettersen's bid for her own 1st win of 2010 that overshadowed Kerr's virtuosity over her 1st 30 holes.
So already Lorena's invitational has featured thrills and spills--and we haven't even hit moving day yet. Dare we wonder what's in store for us and the players tomorrow?
[Update 1 (11:44 pm): Here are Hound Dog's quick overview and LPGA.com's notes and interviews.]
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