Jennifer Rosales finally figured out how to win on the LPGA Tour. Now she's trying to win the most prestigious women's tournament of all.
Two months after her breakthrough victory in the Chick-fil-A, the 25-year-old Filipino star shot a 4-under 67 on Friday to take the second-round lead in the US Women's Open.
"It gave me confidence I can win out here with some of the top players," Rosales said.
PHOTO: EPA
She opened with three straight birdies and closed with a 12-foot birdie putt for a one-stroke lead over fellow University of Southern California alums Candie Kung and Kim Saiki.
Kung and Saiki, the Rochester LPGA winner last week, shot 68s.
Rosales had a 5-under 137 total to top a major championship leaderboard for the second time in a month. She also led after the first round of the LPGA Championship, but couldn't keep up with Annika Sorenstam the rest of the way.
"Hopefully, this weekend will be different," said Rosales, the 1998 NCAA college champion.
Sorenstam (68), Carin Koch (67) and Michelle Ellis (69) were two strokes back at 3 under, and Rachel Teske (69) and Moira Dunn (67) followed at 2 under on the Orchards Golf Club course.
No one had a wilder time Friday than 14-year-old Michelle Wie. She hit a spectator with her tee shot on No. 10 and had to play out of poison ivy after driving into the woods on No. 14.
But she compensated with enough dynamic shots for a 70, leaving her only four strokes back in a group that included 17-year-old amateur Paula Creamer (69).
Brittany Lincicome, the 18-year-old Florida amateur who led an after opening 66, dropped six strokes back after a 77.
Kelly Robbins also had a wild round.
She drove into the left rough on No. 15 and punched under the trees and into the cup for an eagle, capping a four-hole stretch she played in 5 under.
Robbins followed that with three straight bogeys, then nearly holed out a sand wedge to end her roller-coaster round of 67 that left her tied with Wie, Creamer and Pat Hurst (71) at 1 under.
"To keep myself in the ballgame today was great," Robbins said.
Two-time champion Juli Inkster shot her second straight 71 to top a four-player group at even par. "Thirty-six holes is a lot of golf at a US Open," Inkster said. "I like my position."
The one constant came from the best player in the game.
Sorenstam, who won the LPGA Championship three weeks ago in a 36-hole Sunday finale, missed only one green and one fairway, the kind of golf that usually wins the US Women's Open.
"I think I'm in good position. I'm happy at this point," said Sorenstam, one of 75 players who had to return Friday morning to finish the first round.
"I'm trying to stay really calm, and I think one of the things that's good for me is that I'm tired."
Wie, who continues to draw the largest galleries at Orchards, never allowed herself to get on a roll. Powerful drives set up easy birdies, but she gave strokes back with wayward tee shots.
She drilled her second shot on the par-5 13th into 25 feet and squatted inches from the ground when it grazed the lip. That put her at 3 under, closing in on the lead. But her tee shot on the next hole hooked so sharply to the left that Wie hit a provisional in case it was unplayable.
It was in play -- sort of.
"I thought my ball was lost," she said. "But I was in poison ivy. And I was like, 'Can I get relief from that please?' But I didn't get relief. I just punched out."
She answered with an approach that landed 6 inches behind the cup on No. 15 and spun back 6 feet for birdie, but again found trouble off the tee, this time on the 395m 16th hole, forcing her to lay up short of the creek. Wie hit a lob wedge from 63m with hopes of it spinning back to the hole, but it sailed over the green, leading to a double bogey.
"I had a couple of ups and downs," Wie said. "If I just get rid of the downs, then I'll be good."
Western Open
Tiger Woods glanced over at the whooping, cheering, Sunday-sized crowd and couldn't help but grin.
Once in danger of seeing his extraordinary cut streak end, he not only made it to the weekend, but still has a shot at winning the Western Open.
"I just hope the leaders don't go off and hide," Woods said. "If [they don't] do that, there are a lot of guys right there with a chance."
He shot a shot a 2-over 73 on Friday to make the cut by a stroke with a 1-over 143 total.
Woods is still seven shots behind leaders Charles Howell III (67), Matt Gogel (64) and Steve Lowery (68). But the eight-time major champion went from flirting with the cut line to kissing the trophy before, and after Friday's round, anything is possible.
Beginning the day at 1 under and with the cut projected at 1 over, Woods got in trouble on the par-4 No. 3, his 12th hole. Using an iron off the tee, he hit his drive way left and into the rough. He appeared to rush his second shot, and it clipped a large willow and gave him with an even worse lie, in a gully of rough behind another tree.
"My adventures began from there," Woods said.
A vicious hack moved his ball a few measly feet. He finally punched out on his third try, then chipped onto the green and made a 10-foot putt for the double-bogey. Fans gave him encouraging cheers, but he hit his next tee shot left and into the rough again.
He still had a chance to save par, but his 19-foot putt rolled about 18 inches past the hole. That left him at 3 over for the tournament -- two shots below the cut line.
"No," Woods said when asked if he'd ever thought about missing the cut. ``I've experienced it once. Didn't like it very much.''
Woods holds the PGA Tour record for consecutive cuts, a mark that stands at 126. The streak dates to his withdrawal from the 1998 Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, and the only cut he's missed as a professional was in the 1997 Canadian Open at Royal Montreal.
But just when he seems finished, Woods puts on one of those amazing displays that only he can pull off.
"I honestly think he can tie one of his hands behind his back and make him play left-handed, and he would still make the cut," Howell said. "He just has an incredible knack of just getting it done."
On the sixth hole, Woods rolled a 60-foot uphill birdie putt so true it looked as if it was on a track to the hole. The crowd roared as it dropped in, and he lifted his putter in triumph and touched the tip of his cap, a brief smile of relief crossing his face.
He followed with a 10-footer on the next hole to get back to 1 over.
"I figured if I birdied the last five, I should put myself back at 2 under. That would have put me at five off the lead," he said. "That's kind of how I was focusing."
He missed a birdie on No. 8 when his 15-foot putt burned the left edged of the cup. And he seemed headed for more trouble off the tee again on the par-5 ninth, pushing his shot right and into a trap. His second shot clipped a tree and dropped straight down, leaving him 234m from the green.
But he made a beautiful recovery, hitting a 2-iron to 10 feet from the hole.
"Get there!" Woods yelled as the ball took off, and a few seconds later, whoops of appreciation told him it had.
He had to settle for par when his birdie putt slid 11 inches past the hole, but it was good enough to run his cut streak to 126.
"It's pride and playing. And always giving your best all the time," Woods said. "There are many times where I probably should have missed, but I made it just through determination -- or luck. Sometimes the cuts actually come back toward me.
"It's just one of those things where you've got to always play hard."
EUROPEAN OPEN
Retief Goosen, fighting fatigue after his win at the US Open, shot a 6-under-par 66 on Friday to take a two-stroke lead in the second round of the European Open.
Dealing with a heavy downpour late in his round and blustery winds, the South African had six birdies and no bogeys. He leads Dutchman Maarten Lafeber, while Lee Westwood is three strokes back.
Lafeber shot 70, while Westwood had his second straight 69.
Seven-time Order of Merit winner Colin Montgomerie missed the cut, shooting a 10-over 82 as the winds intensified later Friday. He carded 45 on the front nine.
Some predicted level par would be enough to win at the 6,687m South course at the K Club, but Goosen was already a combined 9-under.
"That's unbelievable golf," said Lafeber, who had a 70.
Goosen won at Shinnecock Hills, New York, 12 days ago and only unpacked his clubs Tuesday. He didn't expect to challenge because he was tired.
"In a way, I'm a little surprised at the way I'm playing," Goosen said. "The wind was a bit stronger than [Thursday], and it was a little colder, too. But they have moved a couple of tees up, and the greens are perfect so you can make up for any mistakes on the greens."
Not that he made many mistakes.
Starting at the 503m 10th, he hit a sand wedge third shot to 3m and holed for birdie. That was followed by three straight birdies from the 13th.
At the 551m third, Goosen finished short and in the rough in two, but chipped to 3m and holed for another birdie.
A 3.6m putt at the sixth brought him to 6-under.
Told that another player, Paul McGinley, called him the world's best current player, Goosen referred to Vijay Singh and Ernie Els.
"I think Vijay and Ernie have been playing well for a long time," he said. "I'd have to play as well as this for a few more months to make that true."
He said he wasn't thinking about becoming No. 1.
"We all want to be, but I have a long way to go to catch Tiger Woods in the points system," Goosen said.
Lafeber said he played nearly as well as Thursday, when he shot 67 and was tied for the lead with Nick O'Hern and Paul Broadhurst.
"But it was a fraction more difficult," he said.
"I didn't make any mistakes for the first 12 holes, and I hit 17 greens in regulation.
Westwood can clinch a position on Europe's Ryder Cup team with a high finish.
"I played very solidly from the first tee shot to the last putt," said Westwood. "I stayed calm all day and didn't get upset by the conditions.
"It's certainly the best I've played all year."
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