A 2-and-a-half-hour weather delay couldn't cool off Stacy Lewis in the 2nd round of the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia, as a veritable downpour of birdies moved her to the top of the leaderboard. Lewis bounced back in a big way from a double bogey on the 9th that erased her 2 birdies on the front, tying the tournament record for low 9 held by Meena Lee with an awesome 30 on the back. Her 8-birdie 65 tied the 18-hole tournament record held by Jimin Kang and Sun Young Yoo and got her to -9 for the week.
Even in the face of Lewis's pyrotechnics, Brittany Lang and Na Yeon Choi hung tough. Both came back from the rain delay to make several pars in a row and secure bogey-free rounds, a 67 from Lang that left her tied for the lead and a 68 from Choi that left her 1 back. Although Dewi Claire Schreefel couldn't keep her own bogey-free run going after the rain delay, she hung on for a 68 that left her tied with Choi in 3rd at -8. And Azahara Munoz kept up her fine play this week with a 4-birdie 68 that got her to -7, thanks to a -1 and bogey-free finish over her last 5 holes after she posted her only bogey of the day on the 13th hole.
Meanwhile, world #1 and most dominant golfer on the planet Ya Ni Tseng made 4 birdies in her last 7 holes to complete a 5-birdie 67 and move to -6, Michelle Wie was -3 and bogey-free over her last 6 holes to cap off a 6-birdie 68 and join Tseng in a tie for 6th, Paula Creamer fired a bogey-free 67 to move to -4, Ai Miyazato and Se Ri Pak fired 4-birdie 68s to move to -2, and Jennifer Song birdied 2 of her last 3 holes on the front to complete a bogey-free 67 and get back into red digits for the week at -1.
Other golfers didn't finish as strong, but still kept themselves in good position heading into the weekend. In-Kyung Kim was -4 and bogey-free through her 1st 14 holes, but twice fell back from -7 to -6 for the week with bogeys on the 15th and 18th holes. Suzann Pettersen bogeyed the 17th to settle for a 4-birdie 69 that left her 4 off the pace set by Lewis and Lang. And a walkoff double dropped Amy Yang back to -4 for the week, although she did play well enough before it that she still managed to match her opening 69.
Lots can happen over the final 36 holes. Anna Nordqvist followed up her 79 with a 67, while Maria Hjorth (66-76) and Sophie Gustafson (69-77) went in the opposite direction. So no lead is safe!
[Update 1 (2:49 pm): Here are the 2nd-round notes and interviews from LPGA.com.]
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