Stanford surges

Angela Stanford didn’t let that phenomenal Thursday round go to her head.

So often after a professionals shoot extremely low, they follow it with a ho-hum 18 that drops them straight down the leaderboard.

But in windy conditions that remind the Texan of a typical spring day in the Lone Star State, Stanford followed her 8-under 64 with an equally impressive 67 on Friday to drop to 13-under 203 for the LPGA Lotte Championship.

The 2009 winner at Turtle Bay holds a four-shot lead over local favorite Michelle Wie (70—207) and South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim (69—207). Wie, who played her first two rounds of the Kraft Nabisco Championship with Stanford, as well as on Friday at Ko Olina Golf Club, will be paired with her again Saturday.

Judging by how well Stanford is putting this week — she needed only 51 the past two days — Wie will have to pull something phenomenal out of her golf bag to win.

Wie played bogey free in the second round, but carded two on Friday, including one at the last, to almost lose sight of Stanford. The Punahou graduate burned the hole several times on Friday, but just couldn’t quite find the right line as she dropped off Stanford’s torrid pace on the closing nine.

"Yeah, left a couple of shots out there today," Wie said. "But I have one more day and hopefully tomorrow I’ll make a lot of birdies and catch up to her. It’s going to be fun tomorrow."

Stanford is having some fun of her own, despite a sore right forearm that felt somewhat better on Friday than during Thursday’s 64. She praised the "physio guys" for keeping her in the tournament. The way she’s striking the golf ball in these ever-changing conditions on West Oahu, you’d never know anything was wrong with her.

Her normal ball flight is low, which helps in windy conditions. All three days the weather has been somewhat different. The winds were low over the opening nine on Friday, but that changed when they made the turn for home.

"I hate to keep sounding like a broken record, but it’s so different every day," Stanford said. "Even though the wind seems to be blowing from the same direction, I caught myself telling my caddie a few times it’s not the same wind. I thought it was, but it’s not.

"I think just because each day is so different that anything can happen any day, and I know it helps me because I need to play one shot at a time."

Stanford’s putting has been the real key in building a four-shot lead after 54 holes. Only 22 golfers managed to shoot in the red on Friday, with Stanford’s 67 being the best round again. It was equaled by Julieta Granada.

During Thursday’s torrid 64, Stanford managed five birdies in a row on the front nine. She knocked in three straight on the back nine Friday to put a little separation between her and the rest of the competition.

Former world No. 1 Cristie Kerr kept within range at 8 under for the tournament with a 70 on Friday. She’s five back, with current world No. 1 Inbee Park and rookie Amy Anderson tied for fifth with So Yeon Ryu at 6 under.

As for the key to Saturday’s round, Stanford said she will rely on the flat stick.

"I really just need my putter to stay hot," Stanford said. "I think I need to keep hitting good putts. That’s been the story the last two days. For me, I feel like it’s about my ball-striking. If I could hit it good then I would play good. For the first time, it’s been my putting and it’s kind of fun."