74
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Punahou alum Michelle Wie acknowledged the crowd during her round of 69 on Friday.
MIRABEL, Quebec » Angela Stanford and Ai Miyazato took advantage of soft greens and calm conditions to top the leaderboard Friday after the second round of the Canadian Women’s Open.
Stanford shot a 6-under 66 and Miyazato had a 68 to reach 11-under 133 on the tree-lined Hillsdale Golf Club course north of Montreal.
“The wind never really kicked up, so that helps, and the greens are still pretty soft,” Stanford said. “It’s not surprising people are playing well.”
Song-Hee Kim and Paula Creamer were third at 9 under after a 68, with eight players another stroke back, including defending champion Michelle Wie, who shot a 69.
Wie, the Punahou product and winner last year at St. Charles in Winnipeg, Manitoba, had five birdies and two bogeys.
“It’s what I wanted for the weekend,” Wie said. “I’m motivated to go out and try to get this thing done. I’ll do like I’ve done the last two days — stay patient and try to make a lot more birdies.”
The cut was at 1 under, tying the record in the national championship set in 1998 — when the event was the du Maurier Classic — at Essex in Windsor, Ontario. Eighty of 155 players in the field broke par Friday.
Stanford had seven birdies and a bogey. She joked after her first-round 67 that her putter had finally shown up for a tournament, but cautioned a day later that “it’s still to be determined because I have two days left. I can’t fall in love with him just yet. We’re on speaking terms though, so that’s good.”
Miyazato began the day tied for the lead at 7 under with Pernilla Lindberg, who shot 71 to join Wie, Creamer, Seon Hwa Lee (65), Becky Morgan (67), Sophie Gustafson (68), Gerina Piller (66) and Brittany Lincicome (68) at 8 under.
