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After missing the cut last year at the Jamie Farr, Paula Creamer vowed she would come back and play well. She sits at 17 under. (TONY DEJAK/Associated Press) |
Golf roundup
Creamer in zone as she builds 6-shot lead
In the quiet of the locker room after missing the cut a year ago, a disgusted Paula Creamer swore she'd get even with Highland Meadows Golf Club.
Making good on that vow, she followed a course-record 60 with a 6-under-par 65 yesterday to build a six-stroke lead through two rounds of the Jamie Farr Owens
"That Friday I was sitting in the locker room packing up my things to go home," Creamer said after shattering the tournament's 36-hole record by six shots. "That was not a good feeling."
She promised her sponsors - also the tournament's title sponsor - that she'd get payback.
"I was telling them, 'I'm coming back. I'm going to come back and play this golf course well,' " said Creamer, who stands at 17-under 125 - the lowest 36-hole total on the LPGA Tour this year by five strokes.
"She has been incredible and her score is unbelievable," said Eun-Hee Ji, the only player within 10 shots of her. Ji has rounds of 65-66 and still trails by a half-dozen strokes.
Creamer had seven birdies and her only bogey of the tournament a day after she birdied nine of the final 11 holes and totaled 11 birdies. The 60 eclipsed by a shot the course record of defending champion Se Ri Pak.
"You come out and shoot 60, and anything above 60 feels like you're not playing that great," Creamer said. "I don't think I hit one solid iron shot out there."
The tournament may be half over, but most of the players think it's completely over.
"She's so far ahead, you're almost playing for second," said Stacy Lewis, who shot a 66 and lost ground after starting the day 10 shots back.
Pak, trying to become the first LPGA player to win the same event six times, shot a 69 and was 12 shots behind. She went 63-68 a year ago in the first two rounds to match Kelly Robbins's tournament record, set in 1997.
Rachel Hetherington, who won the 2002 Farr, shot a 67 and was tied for third with H.J. Choi (68) at 135.
PGA - Kenny Perry again sizzled following a sluggish start and was two strokes off the lead after the second round of the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Ill.
Playing as well as anyone on the PGA Tour the past two months, the 47-year-old Perry birdied six of his final 10 holes while shooting 5-under 66. That put him in a three-way tie for second place at 11-under 131 with first-round co-leader Charlie Wi (67) and Eric Axley (66).
The strong finish wasn't enough to move past Will MacKenzie (64), who jumped to the top of the leaderboard earlier in the day and is 13 under, but it kept Perry in contention for his third victory in five starts.
"Awesome round," Perry said. "Very proud of this round."
One stroke off the lead when the day began, Perry got going on the eighth hole after taking a drop following his tee shot. He hit a 23-footer from the fringe to save par and stay even for the round. That swing in momentum led to birdies on the next three holes and kept him in contention.
European - Phil Mickelson had a hole-in-one at the Scottish Open in Luss to make the cut and go into the weekend five strokes behind leader Angel Cabrera.
After he missed a succession of makable putts, Mickelson's 5-iron at his 14th hole, the 190-yard fifth, headed straight for the pin, landed 12 feet short, bounced once, and rolled into the hole.
"I was struggling to get the ball in the hole with the putter so I needed to hole from off the green," he joked, adding that he's had 15 to 20 aces as a professional.
Mickelson shot a 4-under-par 67 for the day and picked up one stroke on Cabrera, who had a 68 for a 9-under 133.
Colin Montgomerie, the winner in 1999, missed the cut for the second successive year after shooting a 75.
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
