Granada Has Company atop CME Group Tour Championship


After taking the 18-hole lead with a 6-under 66, Julieta Granada posted a 71 Friday and was joined atop the leaderboard in the CME Group Tour Championship by Spain's Carlota Ciganda, who had a 67 at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla.

Granada, a 28-year-old from Paraguay, recorded four birdies and three birdies on a windy, damp day in Florida. Ciganda, a 24-year-old from Pamplona, enjoyed a flawless round involving five birdies to tie Granada at 7-under 137 at the halfway point of the $2 million event, the season finale on the LPGA Tour.

Morgan Pressel handled the wet conditions the best of all the 67 players remaining in the field (Japan's Haru Nomura withdrew before the start of the tournament and South African Lee-Anne Pace pulled out after the first round). The 26-year-old Floridian carded three birdies on each the front and back nines for a 66 and is only a shot behind the co-leaders.

Ciganda, a three-time winner on the Ladies European Tour still searching for her first title in the States, was pleased with how she coped with the tough conditions Friday. "I've been playing really good the last two days, and I think my putting was key today, hitting really good putts and making a bogey free round.

"Yeah, felt very confident out there off the greens. I think it was nice to play on the wind. It was tough today."

She added that her focus is on her game, not on a maiden American title or where she'll ultimately end up in the Race to CME Globe. "I'm just going to try to play my game out there and try to enjoy myself and just keep playing the way I'm playing," she said.

"I don't want to think too much about winning or finishing top-five, top-10. Just keep playing one shot at a time and enjoy myself."

Two-time winner Pressel has gone without a victory since the 2008 Kapalua LPGA Classic in Hawaii. She got off to a bit of a rugged start Thursday with three bogeys in her first 10 holes, but rebounded nicely with eight birdies since. "I felt like I've been playing well the last few weeks, but on occasion, I (get) mentally sloppy.

"I think that's what happened (Thursday) morning. I kind of got off to a bad start. I was 3 over through 10 holes and it wasn't looking good. But I was able to rally back and get it to even-par yesterday. I think that set up for the rest of the three days," said Pressel, who received the Tour's Kia Community Assist Award Thursday night during the LPGA's awards presentation.

"I know it's a long tournament, and you start 3 over through 10 and it looks kind of dire," added Pressel. "I was able to not get too far ahead of myself and get too far out of it and get right back in the tournament. Of course, today's round helped that as well."

Just two strokes behind the leaders are Michelle Wie (67), Australia's Sarah Jane Smith (69) and Germany's Sandra Gal (71). Two Koreans, Chella Choi (69) and So Yeon Ryu (70), share seventh at 140.

Wie opened with a 72. Friday afternoon Wie told reporters she wasn't quite sure of the reason behind the five-stroke discrepancy between her two rounds. "It really wasn't that big of a difference," noted the 2014 U.S. Women's Open champion.

"Kind of felt like I was a bit frustrated yesterday because I felt like everything was so close. Caught a couple bad breaks. But, you know, my irons weren't as good as today. So I worked the range a little bit with (David) Leadbetter yesterday after my round and felt like we kind of figured out a little something. So I felt good today."

Alone in ninth at 141 is Thailand's Moriya Jutanugarn (69), and tied for 10th at 142 are Americans Brittany Lang (68) and Jennifer Johnson (69), South Korean Jenny Shin (70), Spain's Belen Mozo (73) and New Zealand's Lydia Ko, who carded her second straight 71. The 17-year-old Ko, ranked third in the world, was named the LPGA's Rookie of the Year Thursday evening.

After opening with a 69, No. 1-ranked Stacy Lewis struggled Friday, posting a 2-over 74. She enters the weekend tied for 15th at 1-under 143. No. 2 Inbee Park is also in catch-up mode after rounds of 71 and 74 to drop eight shots behind Ciganda and Granada.

Lewis was a bit miffed at herself for her wayward play Friday. "The ball-striking just wasn't there all day," said the 29-year-old, a three-time winner this year. "We didn't judge the wind very good either. Seemed to be coming up short and long. Just didn't judge the wind good like we did yesterday."

Still, Lewis took something positive out of the round. "But, fortunately, I made a bunch of really good pars on the back nine especially. Only hitting six greens and 2 over in these conditions is pretty good."

Park had a quick response to her travails. "It was similar to yesterday, but just nothing dropped," she said. "It was horrible putting. That's it."

Nine players have a chance this week to win the Race to the CME Globe and its $1 million bonus. They are - in order on the points' standings - Lewis followed by Park, Ko, Wie, Ryu, Shanshan Feng, Anna Nordqvist, Chella Choi and Karrie Webb.

Lewis, Park and Ko are the only players in control of their own destiny and would win the bonus with a victory. The other players would need to win and receive some help from the points' leaders.

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