Jiyai Shin shot a 3-under 69 to take a one-shot lead over No. 1-ranked Lorena Ochoa and Ai Miyazato yesterday in the second round of the Samsung World Championship at Torrey Pines in San Diego.
Shin, who was tied for the lead after the opening round, has a 36-hole total of 135 atop the elite field of 20. She was at 10 under after sinking a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-5 13th, but followed with a bogey and finished with four straight pars.
Ochoa had a seesaw round of 69 that started with a bogey on No. 1 - her first of four - and ended with a 20-foot chip for eagle on 18.
Miyazato made a late charge and might have tied Shin, but her second shot on the par-5 18th splashed into the big pond that protects the green, leading to her only bogey of the day. As she stood over her third shot, the fountain in the pond - known as Devlin’s Billabong - suddenly turned on. It was quickly turned off. Miyazato, who had birdied 15 and 16, finished with a 68.
Sophie Gustafson shot a 70 and was fourth at 137. There was a four-way tie for fifth at 138 among defending champion Paula Creamer (69), Cristie Kerr (66), Song-Hee Kim (72), and Na Yeon Choi (67). Kim was tied with Shin after the opening round.
Champions - Jay Haas shot a 10-under 62 in the first round of the rain-delayed Greater Hickory Classic in Conover, N.C., good for a three-shot lead.
Gil Morgan was second after his 65, with Tom Jenkins, Jerry Pate, and, three-time major champion Nick Price another stroke back. Jeff Sluman and Hal Sutton, were tied for fourth after rounds of 67.
Haas, who won the tournament in 2005, played a bogey-free round at Rock Barn Golf and Spa’s Robert Trent Jones course.
“It was one of those days,’’ said the 55-year-old, who is winless on the tour this season. “I was in the zone, as they say.’’
Haas was one shot shy of tying the tournament record, set last year by defending champion R.W. Eaks. It also matched the tour’s low round of the season.
Nationwide - Blake Adams, seeking his second consecutive victory, fired a second-round 65 to grab a four-shot lead at the Albertson’s Boise Open in Idaho.
Adams, who won last week’s Utah Championship, is at 14-under 128, ahead of Josh Teater (65) and Leif Olson, who had the best round of the day (63), tying Adams for the low round of the tournament so far.
European - Benn Barham equaled the lowest 36-hole score on the European Tour this season, 13-under 129, at the Austrian Open in Oberwaltersdorf, that put him two strokes ahead of 2007 champion Richard Green (66).
Barham had five birdies in a 5-under 66.
