Becky Morgan grabbed the lead after two rounds of play at the Sybase Classic yesterday in New Rochelle, carding a 7-under par 64 at Wykagyl Country Club. She began the round at 4-under, trailing three leaders by one stroke, and finished the day one shy of matching both her career low round and the course record of 63.
“I played really well today,” said Morgan, who took the lead at 11-under par 131 through two days. “I hit a lot of greens, a lot of fairways and putted well. I’m happy.”
The straight-shooting blonde from Wales masterfully negotiated the 6,161-yard, par-71 track yesterday and put herself in contention for Morgan’s first career LPGA victory. Earlier this year, she was runner-up at the Chik-Fil-A Championship in Atlanta with a 13-under finish.
“It doesn’t happen very often, but I’m getting more used to being on top of the leaderboard,” Morgan said. “Atlanta, a few weeks ago, I think will be a good experience for me now.”
Morgan is one of the slightest drivers of the ball on the Tour, but she is one of the most accurate. It is a combination that suits her well for Wykagyl, a course that demands you stay out of trouble and on the fairways. She was tops on the LPGA Tour last year in driving accuracy, and her highest pro finishes are second-place showings at the Chik-Fil-A and the Shop Rite Classic in Atlantic City last year.
Opening round co-leader Young-A Yang followed up her 66 Thursday with a 2-under par 69 that has her trailing Morgan by four strokes going into the weekend. Yang triple-bogeyed on her final hole of the day – looking to tie the leader at 11-under – and is in a three- way tie with Grace Park and Amy Hung at 7-under.
Park had taken the early second-round lead in the morning, shooting a 66 to go 7-under par for the tournament. Despite opening her round with a three-putt bogey on the 10th hole, Park shot 2-under coming back in and was talking about how much more relaxed she is now and how she’s beginning to have fun on the course between shots.
“I needed to have fun to survive out here,” said Park, who aspires to be the No. 1 LPGA golfer in the world. “If you want to get better at what you do, you have to enjoy it.”
Park was able to enjoy the lead for a brief moment in the early afternoon, before Morgan birdied four of her opening nine holes. Like Park, Hung and Yang, Morgan started her second round on the back nine and tied the leader with a birdie on the par-3, 164-yard No. 16 (her sixth hole).
Morgan drained birdies on Nos. 12, 15, 16, 17 and caught fire again at the end of her round with birdies on Nos. 1, 7 and 8 after opening the tournament with a 4-under par 67 Thursday.
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The first ace of the tournament was scored when Michelle Ellis got a hole-in-one with an 8-iron on the 141-yard No. 2 hole.
Day One co-leaders Nadina Taylor and Silvia Cavalleri struggled, with Taylor carding a 4-over par 75 and Cavalleri a 1-over 72 yesterday.
Sybase Classic leader board
Becky Morgan 67-64 131
Grace Park 69-66 135
Young-A Yang 66-69 135
Amy Hung 68-67 135
Sherri Steinhauer 67-70 137
Jeong Jang 72-66 138 Michele Redman 69-69 138
Silvia Cavalleri 66-72 138
More scores: Page 67