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Creamer on a roll as wind leaves Ochoa struggling

Kelli Kuehne hits a tee shot during the second round of the SemGroup Championship on Friday at Cedar Ridge Country Club in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. PHOTO: AFP

American Paula Creamer seized a narrow one-shot lead on Friday with an even-par 71 in the second round of the LPGA SemGroup Championship.

Creamer’s effort, which included three birdies and three bogeys, gave her a one-under total of 141 and left her the only player under par in the tournament.

South Korean Oh Ji-young carded a one-over 72 for second place on even par 142.

World No. 1 Lorena Ochoa, seeking to match an LPGA record with a fifth win in as many starts, was six adrift on 147 after a second-round 74.

The Mexican star’s round included three bogeys with no birdies, and left her tied for 21st.

While Ochoa was hoping the windy weather would calm down for the weekend, Creamer was happy with the tough conditions.

“The harder it is, the better I play, the more confidence I have out there,” she said. “If it stops blowing, we’re just going to have to make more birdies.”

She followed her first birdie of the day at the third with a bogey at the par-four fourth, where she hit a three-wood over the green, then chipped back over the green. She putted up from off the green to eight feet, but missed her par attempt.

She pulled back shots with birdies at 11 and 14, but bogeyed 16 and 18.

Oh notched two birdies and three bogeys. She said the wind had changed dramatically since Thursday, but “I bogeyed the same holes that I bogeyed yesterday, so I was a little bit shaken up. And it was a little more difficult.”

For Ochoa, it was the first time since the 2006 Women’s British Open that she has had two over-par rounds in a tournament, and her first round in more than two years in which she failed to notch a birdie.
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