Lewis takes two-shot lead at HSBC Champions
SINGAPORE (AP) – Stacy Lewis made six birdies to shoot a 66 and take a two-stroke lead after Friday’s second round of the HSBC Women’s Champions.
Stacy Lewis … six birdies. AFP |
Lewis, the reigning LPGA Player of the Year, was at 11-under 133 overall at Sentosa Golf Club.
She led a pack of six players in second place at 9-under: Ariya Jutanugarn (66), Na Yeon Choi (66), Chella Choi (67), Paula Creamer (67), Sun Young Yoon (68) and overnight leader Azahara Munoz (70).
Top-ranked Yani Tseng stumbled with a double bogey on the par-5 4th hole and shot a 73. She was in a share of 21st place at 3 under.
Lewis has started the new season with the same form that saw her win four titles last year and climb to fourth in the world rankings.
The 28-year-old American also held the 36-hole lead last weekend at the LPGA Honda Thailand tournament-matching her career-best round of 63 in the process-before shooting a 76 in the third round and winding up in third place.
She blamed the lapse on bad putting. She’s not going to put the same pressure on herself this time around.
“Last week, my putter just went sideways,” she said. “I don’t know what happened. But I feel a lot more comfortable with my putter this week, which I’m happy about.”
“You can’t force things, and last week, I definitely was trying to force some putts and hit them too hard and through breaks, so it’s really for me just staying patient tomorrow.”
Jutanugarn is also trying to put last weekend behind her. The 17-year-old Thai player has shown no lasting effects from her final-round collapse at the tournament in Pattaya, Thailand, where she blew a two-stroke lead on the 18th hole and lost the title to Inbee Park. She was in tears after the defeat.
The former top-ranked amateur made six birdies in a bogey-free round Friday to card a 66 – matching Lewis and Na Yeon Choi for best round of the day.
Na Yeon Choi, the reigning US Women’s Open champion, briefly surged into the lead by making three birdies at the start of the back nine before bogeying the 15th.
The 25-year-old South Korean, currently ranked second, has inched closer to Tseng’s No 1 ranking since last season, but she’s trying to keep this out of her mind.
Given her recent form, Lewis is also eyeing the No 1 spot this year.
“Middle of last year, that was one of my goals was to track down Yani,” she said. “I didn’t play well last weekend but I still finished third and that helps me in that move to No 1.”
Tseng, who has held the top ranking for 107 weeks, seemed almost invincible winning four majors and back-to-back LPGA Player of the Year awards in 2010-11.
