Just hours after Annika Sorenstam seemed assured of the second-round lead at the Corning Classic after an impressive 5-under 67 on Friday, Michelle Estill shot a stunning 64 and was one stroke in front of the Swedish star.
Estill was at 13-under 131, one stroke better than the 36-hole record set last year by Lorie Kane and Catriona Matthew. Sorenstam was alone in second, four shots ahead of 2001 Corning champion Carin Koch, who had a 68.
PHOTO: AP
Liselotte Neumann, who began the day tied for the lead with Sorenstam, struggled to a 72 that included five bogeys, three birdies and an eagle. She was at 137, tied with Sherri Steinhauer (70), Natalie Gulbis (71), Mhairi McKay (66), Denise Killeen (68) and Laura Diaz (68), who won here two years ago.
But the day belonged to Estill, and it didn't take her long to realize it might be something special. Playing in only her fourth tournament of the year, Estill had five birdies and a bogey for a 31 to match the tournament record on the back nine.
"I got off to a smooth start and just managed to stay afloat," said Estill, whose 15-foot birdie putt into the wind at No. 9 gave her the lead. "The wind kind of affected the putts, but I made it. It was tough out there, but it was lots of fun."
Sorenstam was long gone when Estill started her challenge. Estill, who had an opening 67, jumped to 11 under with an eagle at No. 2 and tied Sorenstam for the lead with a birdie at No. 5.
The round matched Estill's career low and was quite a turnaround from last year, when she made only two cuts in 20 tournaments. Her only LPGA win came 13 years ago, so she's certainly in unfamiliar territory.
"I've probably never [been in the lead]. When I won in Portland, I wasn't leading after the second round," said Estill, who needed only 25 putts on Friday. "But there's two days left. Two days is a lot of golf on this course."
Despite ever-changing conditions, Sorenstam followed her opening 65 with another solid performance. She made three birdies and five pars on the back nine to move to 10 under. After a bogey at No. 1, a par-4 that is the toughest hole on the Corning Country Club course, she rebounded by making birdie at 2, then drained a 14-foot downhill putt that rolled over a ridge and curved left more than a foot before dropping into the hole for an eagle at No. 5.
"The wind was gusting, very strong at times. It made the course a lot trickier," said Sorenstam, who started the tournament without even a practice round after two weeks off. "Today, I was feeling more comfortable. I knew more where to hit it."
Sorenstam followed a three-putt bogey at No. 8 by hitting a 9-iron to 5 feet and making the putt for birdie on her closing hole.
"I'm quite pleased with my round, maybe not as solid as yesterday, but then on the other hand the wind was quite tricky," said Sorenstam, who has won 50 tournaments since she last played here in 1995, her second year on tour. "At times, it was gusting in both directions. I had a good feel for where the wind was coming from, but there was more crosswind on certain holes than I expected. It makes it tougher."
Rachel Teske, who shot a 68 to move into a tie for 10th, had 14 pars and four birdies and was the only player not to bogey a hole.
McKay and Soo Young Moon each shot a 66 and both had five birdies. McKay had two eagles and Moon had one.
St. Jude Classic
Defending champion David Toms turned in his best round this year with an 8-under 63 to lead Vaughn Taylor by a stroke after the second round of the St. Jude Classic on Friday.
Toms carded six birdies and an eagle for his 10th straight round in the 60s here and a 12-under 130.
"It seems the more I've played this tournament, the better I've played. The last few years it's been good to me," Toms said.
At No. 16 in the world, Toms is the highest ranked player in this event, and he isn't willing to give all the credit to the course. He missed three of his first four cuts here but finished fourth in 2002 and went 20 under last year.
"My golf game's gotten better over the last few years. That probably has a lot to do with it at as well," Toms said.
Taylor, who had never led a round in a PGA Tour event before Thursday, did his best to keep pace with a bogey-free 65. He will play with Toms in the final group on Saturday, a first-time occasion he spent Friday trying to prepare for mentally by looking at his name on the leaderboards.
"I like seeing my name up there," said Taylor, who earned his card by finishing 11th on the Nationwide Tour in 2003. "I'm trying to get used to it, so when I do see it up there it's not a shock to me."
Ben Crane was third, five strokes back, after a 65 followed by a four-way tie at 136 with John Daly (65), Tim Herron (64), Paul Stankowski (69) and Ted Purdy (64). A total of 74 golfers made the cut at 1 over.
Daly, who needs a strong finish here to earn an exemption to the U.S. Open, bogeyed his final hole when he tried to putt between two sprinkler heads on No. 9.
"It would be great to have a chance. I've got to shoot 7- or 8-under par on Saturday. I don't know if I'll catch Toms or not, but it'll be close anyway. The scores will be low over the weekend," said Daly, who used to own a house on this course.
"David gets it going like he's going, he's tough to beat."
Rain early Friday morning softened a course that yielded only eight scores below 70 on Thursday. Wind that gusted to 40kph in the first round calmed down, and the skies cleared by afternoon leaving almost perfect scoring conditions when Toms teed off.
Starting a stroke behind Taylor, Toms quickly made his move. He birdied his second hole and took the lead by himself after sticking a 3-iron 2 feet from the hole for eagle on the par-5 No. 3. He padded his lead with birdies on Nos. 5 and 6 and made the turn at 9 under.
After five straight pars that allowed Taylor to get within a stroke, Toms responded with three more birdies on his final seven holes.
Toms hit a pitching wedge to 12 feet on No. 12, hit over the green on the par-5 No. 16 but chipped to 6 feet for birdie and finished with a 7-iron to 5 feet on No. 18.
This kind of performance is exactly what Toms needed as he tries to play his way back into shape after surgery to remove bone chips from his left wrist last December. He tied for fifth at Doral but missed six cuts in 11 events this year. His best finish in the past month was a tie for 34th at New Orleans, and this is his fifth straight event.
Making his round easier was Bob Estes, the 2001 champion here who had four birdies on the front nine and rebounded from a bogey and triple bogey to start the back nine with seven consecutive birdies for a 64.
"We fed off each other the whole time and had a good day," Toms said.
Fred Funk did his part to cheer Toms on, showing him a set of pompoms in the fitness van before their round started. He pulled them out after Toms' eagle and again on No. 18.
"He made sure the crowd knew he was on my side I guess," Toms said.
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