Laura Diaz finished her round with three birdies for a 5-under 67 to take a two-stroke lead in the Mitchell Company LPGA Tournament of Champions. Heather Daly-Donofrio was alone in second after a second-round 66 at the Magnolia Grove’s Crossings Course, and Lorena Ochoa fired a second 68 to tie with Christina Kim (70) three strokes back.
“It was a good day today,” Diaz said. “The course was soggy with all of the rain, but the greens crew did a good job of getting the course ready for us. With the greens soft, you just have to go out and be aggressive and keep shooting at the pins.”
Diaz, 36th on the money list, needs a good showing to leap to the top 30 and qualify for next week’s season-ending ADT Championships. Stacy Prammanasudh, who is not playing this week, is in 30th and $33,923 ahead of Diaz. Sister to sometimes-PGA-Tour player Ron Philo, Jr., Diaz needs to finish fifth or better for a shot to compete in the ADT.
“I’m trying my hardest not to think about that,” said Diaz. “I’m just trying to play the best golf I can, and if I play well and get to play next week, then great. It’s an honor to be in the top 30 and play in that great tournament. My goal is to make the Hall of Fame and you do that by winning tournaments. I’m trying to keep it all in perspective. I’ve got 36 more holes to make birdies.”
Daly-Donofrio, playing because the eligibility was extended to winners from 2001 (after all, who wants a tournament with only seven players or so?), fired her best round since a career-low 65 in the Welch’s Fry’s Championship in early 2003. Ochoa turns 23 on Monday and is playing for the first time in this event. She’s already set an LPGA record for the number of birdies in a season, bumping her total to 413 with five on Friday. The previous record was 408 set by Maria Hjorth in 1999. Ochoa also set the single-season record for eagles, with 20 thus far.
Weekend coverage is being handled by The Golf Channel. Saturday and Sunday play will be shown from 2:30 to 5:00pm ET both days.