Choi Up by Two in Malaysia


Na Yeon Choi of South Korea followed her opening 6-under 65 with a 67 Friday to take a two-stroke lead in the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia. The 72-hole, $1.9 million event started Thursday at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club.

Choi, the defending champion, posted six birdies and two bogeys to reach 10-under 132, two strokes ahead of American Sydnee S. Michaels, who's posted rounds of 69 and 65. Another stroke back are Norway's Suzann Pettersen (64), American Lizette Salas (67) and Japan's Mika Miyazato (69) and Momoko Ueda (67).

Choi is pleased with her play so far. "I think I had a pretty good round," said the 2012 U.S. Women's Open champion. "I got two bogeys, but I think I'm still in pretty good position. I really like to play this golf course. I have a lot of confidence. I hit a lot of good shots with my irons. I really looked forward to this week, to get good results like last year."

After opening with two birdies and a bogey on the front nine, Michaels reeled off five straight birdies on Nos. 11-15 to come home in 5-under 31. "I definitely got on a roll," said the 24-year-old Californian. "I gave myself good birdie chances every time. I made the putts.

"So I was rolling the ball really well . . . It is really, really hot. But, I mean, I have my little sun umbrella, my compression sleeve, so I'm trying to manage."

Salas had the shot of the day when she holed out on the par-3 15th for her first ace on the LPGA Tour. She used a 9-iron on the 130-yard hole. "I'll take it," Salas said. "It's only my third hole-in-one, first on tour. You don't get to hear that all too often, a hole-in-one in Malaysia. So that's pretty cool. I'm just having fun."

Paula Creamer (67) is tied for seventh at 136 with Scottish player Catriona Matthew (68), South Korea's Sun Young Yoo (70) and Aussies Lindsey (66) Wright and Karrie Webb. After opening with a 65 to take a share of the 18-hole lead with Yeon, Webb posted a 71 Friday.

Other scores include a 69 by No. 2-ranked Stacy Lewis that moved her into a tie for 19th at 139. No. 1-ranked Yani Tseng got off to an awful start with a 78 on Thursday, but managed to shoot a 72 in the second round. She's at 8-over 150 and T-61 in the no-cut tournament.

For complete scoring details, visit http://www.lpgascoring.com/public/Leaderboard.aspx.