ShopRite Classic - 2nd Round

M.J. Hur fired a 64 and leads by one going to the final round at the ShopRite LPGA Classic.  Paula Creamer is in second place at -10 while Ai Miyazato and Katherine Hull are tied for third at -9.

Hur birdied eight times with a lone bogey at the par-3 7^th to register the lowest round of her career.  She shot 65 in the final round during her win at the Safeway Classic last August.  Creamer continued her improbable return to action with a 65.  Paula's only bogey on the day was at the par-3 11^th, making that the site of two of her three total bogeys over the first 36 holes.  Keep an eye out for how she handles 11 today.  Hull collected Low Round of the Week (so far...) with a 63.  Katherine birdied eight holes in a ten-hole stretch Saturday and took her only bogey at the par-3 15^th - like Creamer, giving Hull one par-3 that she's bogeyed each of the first two days.  Katherine's key hole Sunday may be 15.  Miyazato set up the possibility of her fourth win of the year by getting home in 67.

Hee-Won Han and Inbee Park are lurking at -8, only three shots off the pace.  First-round leader Sherri Steinhauer only posted even-par 71 but remains in contention at -7, tied with Morgan Pressel who carded 66.  Natalie Gulbis dropped from T2 to T19 because of a 73 and lies seven shots behind.  Tania Elosegui's 75 killed her chances as she fell to T32 -2, nine shots out of the lead.  18 players are within my standard "Sunday six shots" window and with the numbers being posted, a shootout is almost certainly in the cards.

I was surprised to see the cut over par; +1 to be exact.  Michelle Wie climbed into it with a 69, joining Brittany Lincicome, Jee Young Lee, Shi Hyun Ahn and Grace Park in the early Sunday pairings.  Monday qualifier Adrienne White barely hung on as her 76 was just good enough to make it through.  The paycheck will do her much good when the Priority list gets reset again this fall.  Going home (or to Rochester) early are Brittany Lang, Maria Hjorth, Lindsey Wright, Alexis Thompson (despite two eagles on the day), Sarah Jane Smith, Mariajo Uribe and Louise Friberg.  Six players (an unusually high number) withdrew after the first round, including Se Ri Pak, Irene Cho and Angela Park.  Russy Gulyanamitta was DQ'd following Round Two for reasons unknown.

Vicky Hurst's recent troubles have apparently mushroomed.  After opening with a 76 on Friday, Vicky played the worst round of her LPGA career.  A quad at 2, a triple at 12, another quad at 15, a double at 18.  Add in seven bogeys and two drop-in-the-bucket birdies and it added up to 89.  Since her T7 at the HSBC Women's Champions and T21 at the Kia Classic, Vicky has missed the cut four times in six events with her best real finish being T44 at the Kraft Nabisco (her first-round loss at the Sybase Match Play registers as a T33).  This 2009 rookie became one of my favorite players rather quickly - I hope she can sort things out in a similar fashion.