J. Park struggles in Round 2, drops from lead at U.S. Women's Open
LANCASTER, Pa. -- First-round co-leader Jane Park stumbled with a 2-over 72 Friday and fell out of a three-way tie for the top spot midway through the second round of the U.S. Women's Open.
Park had clawed into a tie for first with Karrie Webb and Marina Alex earlier Friday with a birdie and four pars as she and 54 others completed their opening rounds. Play was halted late Thursday when storms pounded Lancaster Country Club.
Webb, a two-time champion, and Alex, a second-year LPGA player, were part of Friday's afternoon wave along Amy Yang, who opened at 3 under. Other afternoon starters included defending champion Michelle Wie (72), Lydia Ko (70) and 2014 runner-up Stacey Lewis (69).
Park, the 2004 U.S. Amateur champion, played steadily through most of 23 holes Friday, with 12 straight pars in the middle of her round. But she had bogeys at the seventh, ninth and 10th and made just one birdie, at the 12th.
She has managed to stay in contention despite ranking last in the 154-player field in driving distance, offsetting her lack of punch with pinpoint approach shots.
"I give up a lot of distance off the tee, but my irons and my woods are very, very accurate," she said. "And fortunately, I've got a pretty good hold of how far I'm hitting all of my clubs. And the greens are very soft, very receptive. So I'm able to go at pins when you need to and the ball seems to be stopping right where you want it to."
She said difficult second-round pin placements made the hilly 6,400-yard William Flynn layout in the heart of Amish country play tougher than in the opening round.
"I thought the pins were very difficult today," she said. "My proximity to the hole was probably between 15 to 25, 30 feet, and a lot of them broke two or three feet. It wasn't exactly a day where I could be very aggressive with my putts because the pin placements were very difficult."
She stands at 2 under, along with top-ranked Inbee Park, who offset two bogeys with a pair of birdies for an even-par 70.
Inbee Park, the 2008 and 2013 winner, was satisfied with her consistent play over 22 total holes Friday. But she was quick to point out what held her back from making a move: her putting.
"It's really tricky and it really gets me all the time," she said. "Every time I stood over it, and I know this is the U.S. Open, I just keep leaving it short. And it's disappointing, because it just stops just in front of the edge."
Sei Young Kim made the biggest move of the morning wave. The South Korean shot a 67 after an opening 73 and was at even par along with Taiwan's Min Lee (68).
Kim's caddie was removed from the championship this week by the U.S. Golf Association for taking photos of internal notes on the course setup.
