Associated Press
Associated Press
NORTH PLAINS, Ore. — Japan’s Mika Miyazato shoot a 4-under 68 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead after the second round of the LPGA Tour’s Safeway Classic.
Miyazato, tied for the first-round lead with Sydnee Michaels after a 65, had an 11-under 133 total on Pumpkin Ridge’s Ghost Creek Course.
South Korea’s So Yeon Ryu, the Toledo Classic winner last week, was second after a 68. Ryu and Miyazato, winless in her four seasons on the LPGA Tour, will be paired together again today after playing in the same group the first two days.
Cristie Kerr and Inbee Park shot 70 to reach 8 under, and Michaels had a 72 to join top-ranked Yani Tseng and Paula Creamer at 7 under. Tseng had a 67, and Creamer shot a 69.
Michelle Wie was tied for 11th at 5 under after a 70.
Miyazato is enjoying the best stretch of play on the LPGA Tour of late, with second-place ties this summer at the NW Arkansas Championship and LPGA Championship.
“I have so much good experience the last four or five events,” Miyazato said. “But I don’t know how much closer to win the tournament. I try to focus on my golf game, one shot at a time.”
Miyazato must fend off Ryu, who closed with a 9-under 62 last week in Ohio to tie the LPGA record for lowest final-round score for a winning player. Ryu is 29 under in her last six rounds of competition, all six rounds in the 60s.
Tseng leads the tour with three victory, but hasn’t won since March and missed the cut in three of her previous four tournaments.
Defending champion Suzann Pettersen was 2-under after a 71. Last year, the Norwegian star Pettersen overcame a nine-stroke deficit in the final round and won in a playoff.
Ryu, the LPGA rookie points leader, briefly took the lead after shooting a 5-under 30 on the back nine — her first nine.
WYNDHAM CHAMPIONSHIP: Sergio Garcia shot a 4-under 66 on Saturday to take the lead at 14-under 196 after three rounds in Greensboro, N.C.
Tim Clark and Bud Cauley were a stroke back, with Jason Dufner, Harris English and Carl Pettersson at 12 under entering the final round of the last event before the FedEx Cup playoffs.
DICK’S SPORTING GOODS OPEN: Defending champion John Huston shot a 5-under 67 to take a one-stroke lead over Brad Faxon after the second round in Endicott, N.Y.
Huston had a 12-under 132 total in the Champion Tour event at En-Joie Golf Club. Faxon shot a 66.
U.S. AMATEUR: Michael Weaver opened a big lead, and then hung on to beat Justin Thomas 3 and 2 to advance to the final in Cherry Hills Village, Colo.
Weaver, from Fresno, Calif., and the University of California, will face Steven Fox, a Tennessee-Chattanooga senior from Hendersonville, Tenn., on Sunday in the 36-hole championship. Fox beat Brandon Hagy, Weaver’s teammate at Cal, 2-up. Thomas plays at Alabama.