Michelob ULTRA Open - Heavy rains suspend play, delay round

5/10/2008

Severe weather Friday morning in Williamsburg, Va., at the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill brought heavy rains that made course conditions temporarily unplayable and suspended second-round play for a total of 1 hour, 20 minutes.

The first delay of 28 minutes occurred from 10:51 until 11:19 a.m., followed by a 52-minute delay from 3:14 until 4:06 p.m.

The delay forced a race with daylight as players, including first-round leader Mhairi McKay who fell to a tie for 33rd, hurried to finish the second round.

Annika Sorenstam, already a two-time winner this season, and Jeong Jang, of South Korea, both carded a 5-under-par 66 for Friday’s low round at the Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill.

Jeong Jang (67-66), who has cashed in nearly $350,000 this season on the strength of two top-10 finishes, moved from a first-round tie for 12th into a tie for second with Rolex Rankings’ number one Lorena Ochoa (65-68) at 9-under-par 133.

The mark is Jang’s lowest score since an opening-round 64 (-8) at the Fields Open in Hawaii, where she carded a runner-up finish.

Sorenstam took control of the leaderboard and holds a three-stroke lead over the field with a 36-hole tournament-low 12-under-par 130 (64-66).

The trio of Sorenstam, Ochoa and Jang will play in the final group tomorrow which starts on the first tee at 11:10 a.m. on the River Course at Kingsmill Resort and Spa.

10 moms make the cut.

With one of the season’s lowest cutlines at even-par 142, 10 of the LPGA’s mom’s on Tour were among 72 players to make the cut at the 2008 Michelob ULTRA Open at Kingsmill.

Players making the cut on the number (even-par) include defending champion Suzann Pettersen, Na Yeon Choi, who leads the Lousie Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year race this season, and crowd favorites Natalie Gulbis and Laura Davies.

Leaderboard – Round 2:

1.   Annika Sorenstam        64 66 130 -12
2.   Jeong Jang                  67 66 133 - 9
      Lorena Ochoa              65 68 133 - 9
4.   Meena Lee                  67 68 135 - 7
5.   Kaern Stupples             67 69 136 - 6
      Jimin Kang                   67 69 136 - 6
      Becky Morgan               67 69 136 - 6
      Meredith Duncan           68 68 136 - 6
      Kristy McPherson           68 68 136 - 6
10. Christina Kim                70 67 137 - 5
      Song-Hee Kim              66 71 137 - 5
      Diana D´Alessio            65 72 137 - 5

Source: LPGA Tour