WATERLOO, Ontario — Defending champion Hee Young Park and Shanshan Feng topped the second-round leaderboard Friday in the LPGA Tour’s Manulife Financial Classic, a stroke ahead of Michelle Wie. ADVERTISING WATERLOO, Ontario — Defending champion Hee Young Park and Shanshan
WATERLOO, Ontario — Defending champion Hee Young Park and Shanshan Feng topped the second-round leaderboard Friday in the LPGA Tour’s Manulife Financial Classic, a stroke ahead of Michelle Wie.
Park had a 5-under 66 to match Feng at 11-under 131 at Grey Silo. They are both bogey-free through 36 holes.
“The weather was lot better than first round,” Park said. “I hit a lot of greens. My goal was try to leave uphill putts and that worked well. I think that makes me more comfortable.”
Last year, Park beat Angela Stanford with a birdie on the third playoff hole after they finished at 26-under 258 to match the tour record for lowest total score.
“I have a lot of good feelings on this golf course,” Park said.
Feng shot a 66.
“I’m really happy about my playing today because it’s a bogey-free round again, six birdies,” the Chinese player said. “I think I did pretty well. … I heard the weekend’s supposed to be nice, so we need to go for many, many birdies.”
Wie, the winner in Hawaii in April, followed her opening 65 with a bogey-free 67. She’s seeking her second victory in Canada after winning the 2010 Canadian Women’s Open in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
“Just wasn’t getting anything close to the hole today,” Wie said. “Just got a lot of putts close. But yeah, it’s not a really easy golf course. Definitely, the wind was changing a lot today. There were a lot of times where I thought it was downwind and it was into the wind, so that was definitely difficult.”
Anna Nordqvist, a two-time winner this year, was 9 under after a 64 — the best round of the week. The Swede, the winner in Thailand and Carlsbad, played her opening nine — the back nine at Grey Silo — in 5-under 30 and added birdies on Nos. 3 and 4.
“I got off to a really good start. I hit it good all day,” Nordqvist said. “I think I hit all fairways and all greens, so that makes it a little bit easier. I’m a little bit disappointed with the last couple holes because I hit a lot of good putts that didn’t go in. Last one I left it about a roll short dead in the middle.”
Second-ranked Inbee Park four strokes back at 7 under a 66.
“I putted really a lot better than last couple weeks this week, yesterday and today,” Inbee Park said. “Even if everything’s not going in, I see it going really close to the hole. So I’m really happy with my stroke and I just need to hit more shots a little bit closer because there’s obviously a lot of opportunities here. Just trying to make a lot of birdies.”
ST. JUDE CLASSIC
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Ben Crane shot a 5-under 65 on Friday to open a six-stroke lead in the St. Jude Classic before heavy rain delayed play twice and forced the suspension of play for the day.
Crane birdied his final hole Thursday night for a 63 and rolled in a 44-footer for birdie to start the second round Friday morning. He had a 12-under 128 total at TPC Southwind, matching the winning score in relation to par last year.
Carl Pettersson and Jason Bohn were tied for second at 6 under. Pettersson had one hole left, and Bohn had two to play. Davis Love III (70) and Billy Horschel (68) were in at 5 under.
Phil Mickelson and Retief Goosen were unable to start the second round. Mickelson opened with a 67 on Thursday, and Goosen had a 66.
After a 59-minute delay because of lightning, play resumed for 13 minutes before being stopped again. Fans were sent home and the round was suspended just before 5 p.m.
LEGENDS OF GOLF
RIDGEDALE, Mo. — Russ Cochran and Kenny Perry teamed to birdie the final three holes for a share of the lead with Jeff Sluman and Fred Funk in the Champions Tour’s rain-delayed Legends of Golf.
The leaders were at 10-under 61 after their better-ball rounds on the Buffalo Ridge course.
Funk and Sluman played the first nine holes in 7-under 28 and added three birdies on the back nine. In Savannah, Georgia, last year, Sluman teamed with Brad Faxon to win the Champions Division.
Other players opened at Top of the Rock, the first par-3 course used in a PGA Tour-sanctioned event. The teams of Tom Watson-Andy North, Nick Faldo Eduardo Romero and Craig Stadler-Kirk Triplett had the best rounds there, finishing at 5-under 49 after nine holes of alternate shot and nine of better ball.
In the Legends Division for players 65 and older, Bruce Fleisher and Larry Nelson took the lead with a 62 at Buffalo Ridge. The teams of Jack Nicklaus-Gary Player, Lee Trevino-Mike Hill and Graham Marsh-John Bland shot 1-over 55 on the par-3 course, the site of the final rounds in each division.
CURTIS CUP
ST. LOUIS — Southern California’s Annie Park won two matches in the Curtis Cup to help the United States take a 5-1 lead over Britain and Ireland at St. Louis Country Club.
The 19-year-old Park, from Levittown, New York, teamed with Mississippi State’s Ally McDonald to beat Bronte Law and Charlotte Thomas 4 and 3 in the morning four-ball matches, then joined UCLA’s Erynne Lee to top Eilidh Briggs and Gabriella Cowley 3 and 1 the afternoon foursomes.
The United States is trying to regain the cup after falling in 2012 at Nairn in Scotland. The loss was the Americans’ first since 1996. The Americans lead the series 27-7-3.
On Saturday, there will again be three morning foursomes matches and three afternoon four-ball matches. On Sunday, the biennial competition will close with eight singles.
LYONESS OPEN
ATZENBRUGG, Austria — Sweden’s Mikael Lundberg shot a 4-under 68 in perfect morning conditions to take the second-round lead in the Lyoness Open.
Lundberg had a 9-under 135 total at Diamond Country Club. England’s Lee Slattery was a stroke back after a 66, and Paraguay’s Farbrizio Zanotti had a 68 to reach 7 under.
