While everyone was waiting for Annika Sorenstam to make her move at Cherry Hills Chilean rookie Nicole Perrot quietly played her game and stole the thunder from the big names in the field. With a pair of 70’s Perrot is the only player to be under par after the second round of the 60th U.S. Women’s Open.
Playing alongside of Perrot is amateur Morgan Pressel (71) whose temper flared with every missed putt. Repeatedly slamming her hand on her putter Pressel still managed to scrape out a 73 to stay within three strokes of Perrot.
Better-known amateur Michelle Wie’s final three holes of her first round were played early this morning. She led in the clubhouse after the first 18 were completed.
Wie started her second round with a bogey and dropped another two during the course of the round. With pars from the third through seventh holes the fifteen-year old felt confident enough that she sank her final putt for birdie to tie with Ochoa for 4th place on the leaderboard. After her close encounter with a win at the McDonald’s LPGA Championship she can almost taste victory here at the Open.
Lorena Ochoa (68) was paired with Rosie Jones (72) and Annika Sorenstam (75). It was an exciting match as Ochoa fired at pins and putted masterfully scoring the low round of the day.
Annika couldn’t keep up with her playing partners. Reckless fairway misses and putts not dropping for Sorenstam caused her to bogey the last three holes of her round. A five-stroke deficit now separates her from the lead. Annika still has plenty of time to straighten out her mental game. I’m sure Tiger Woods will send her an email to boost her spirits and inspire her. Even the top-guns on tour occasionally need a pat on the back.
Paula Creamer’s (69) eagle at the 10th hole started a rally which lasted another three holes. She was brimming with confidence in spite of an upset stomach. Then came the weather delay.
Thunder and gloomy skies forced the ladies to cram inside vans and wait for the all-clear sound to resume play. The wait seemed endless and at one point the officials were deciding whether or not to move everyone indoors. Over forty minutes later golfers were given the nod. At that point Creamer’s round took a nosedive. She bogeyed her next three holes but putted out for par at 18 with a sigh of relief.
Natalie Gulbis (75) is at the top of a long list of golfers tied for ninth on the scoreboard. Aside from a double-bogey on the fourth, Gulbis looked like she was having fun flashing her smile regularly for the fans. Cristie Kerr (71) is tied with Gulbis near the top of the leaderboard. Rosie Jones and defending champion Meg Mallon are also in that logjam.
The final cut-line stands at 8-over par. Christina Kim (70) played great today but first round action started her with an 81. Laura Davies (81) had two rounds in the 80’s and Charlotta Sorenstam (78) will have to cheer her sister Annika from the sidelines.
The U.S. Open can be seen on both Saturday and Sunday on NBC. The action will be televised from 3:00-6:00pm ET on both days.
Pos Player Today Tot R1 R2 1 Nicole Perrot -1 -2 70 70 T2 Michelle Wie (a) +2 E 69 73 T2 Lorena Ochoa -3 E 74 68 T4 Rachel Hetherington -2 +1 74 69 T4 Paula Creamer -2 +1 74 69 5 Angela Stanford +3 +1 69 74 T7 Karine Icher +4 +2 69 75 T7 Morgan Pressel (a) +2 +2 71 73 T9 Natalie Gulbis +4 +3 70 75 T9 Cristie Kerr E +3 74 71 T9 Meg Mallon +3 +3 71 74 T9 Rosie Jones +1 +3 73 72 T22 Annika Sorenstam +4 +4 71 75