Wie Up by Three in U.S. Women's Open; Lewis Slips into Third


Michelle Wie carded her second straight 2-under 68 to take a three-stroke lead at the halfway mark of the 69th U.S. Women's Open. The championship follows the men's U.S. Open at Pinehurst Resort's No. 2 Course in North Carolina's Sandhills. For the first time ever, the two majors are being played on the same course in back-to-back weeks.

The 24-year-old Wie, a three-time winner on the LPGA Tour, was more consistent on Day 2. After five birdies and three bogeys Thursday, she had three birdies and a lone bogey Friday.

Wie has a 36-hole total of 4-under 136, three strokes ahead of Lexi Thompson, who also shot a 68. The 19-year-old Thompson won the LPGA Tour's first major of the year, the Kraft Nabisco Championship, in April.

Wie and Thompson are the only players under par through 36 holes in the U.S. Women's Open.

Wie said she's pleased with her position going into the weekend. "I can't complain," she told reporters. "End of the day yesterday I was thinking if i just did this again, that would be nice. But always finishing with two birdies is always great. It's a grind out there. It's not easy. Really grateful for the par putts that I made and some of the birdie putts that I made. I can't complain, I'll take it."

She's enjoying the historic, Donald Ross-designed layout, and it shows. "Pinehurst is awesome," added Wie, whose previous victory came in April's LPGA Lotte Championship in her home state of Hawaii. "Just playing here . . . seeing all the history, and the golf course is great. I love the way the USGA set it up. It's a great golf course.

"I feel like we're making history this year playing at Pinehurst, same stage as the men. I just was very excited watching the men play on Sunday and just to kind of see what they hit and kind of try to do the same things, it's a lot of fun. It's great."

Australian amateur Minjee Lee carded a 1-over 71 to head into the last two rounds tied for third at even-par 140 with South Korean Amy Yang (69) and Stacy Lewis.

The 18-year-old Lee, who won the 2012 U.S. Girls' Junior title and is the No. 1-ranked female amateur in the world, said the No. 2 Course on Friday played like it did the first day. "I think it's similar to (Thursday)," the Perth native said.

"The pins are more of them are (at) the very back. So if you go a little bit over, then you're all the way down the gully. So I think it's going to be similar and whoever plays smart golf I think they're going to score well."

After starting out with a stellar 3-under 67, first-round leader Lewis struggled with her game in the second round. The 29-year-old, the No. 1-ranked player in women's golf, had six bogeys and three birdies for a 73.

Five behind Wie is 2012 U.S. Women's Open champion Na Yeon Choi (70) of South Korea, while tied for seventh at 2-over 142 are 2010 champion Paula Creamer (72), Colombian Mariajo Uribe (70) and Japan's Sakura Yokomine (68).

Creamer hopes she can play better in the final two rounds. "I definitely did not have my 'A' game today," said the 27-year-old Californian, who won her Open title at Oakmont. "That's for sure. I couldn't figure out my irons out there. I struggled a little bit with that and just getting a good swing thought. I missed a lot of greens, which I normally don't do. But I scrambled really well. When I missed it, I missed it in the right parts. You can't be too upset about that.

"Obviously I'm a little heated about missing that par save on the last hole, but that's only going to motivate me more. I'm not taking it as a negative, I'm definitely taking it as a positive going into the weekend. Hopefully I'm not too far back going in on Saturday, but there's just so much golf left."

Australia's Karrie Webb, a 41-time LPGA winner with two U.S. Open titles, posted a 73 and is at 3-over 143 with American Angela Stanford (72), Northern Ireland's Stephanie Meadow (72) and So Yeon Ryu (74), who won the 2011 U.S. Women's Open at The Broadmoor in a playoff over fellow South Korean Hee Kyung Seo.

The 36-hole cut was set at 9-over 149. Defending champion Inbee Park, ranked No. 2 in the world behind Lewis, safely made it despite starting with a 76. The 25-year-old South Korean carded a 71 Friday.

Playing in her 35th - and last - U.S. Women's Open, two of which she's won, 53-year-old Juli Inkster had a 75 to move on to the weekend.

One of the championship's stars, 11-year-old Lucy Li of California, recorded her second 78 to miss the cut. Despite not being able to play more golf at Pinehurst, the sixth-grader had a tournament to remember and was proud of her performance. "I'm really happy about how I played. I'm really happy with how I bounced back from the big numbers. I got birdies after I got like doubles and triples, so that's what I'm really happy about, yeah.

"It's been a great week. I had a lot of fun. I learned a lot and, yeah, I guess it has exceeded my expectations."

As for what's next on her golf calendar, Li added, "I have the U.S. Amateur Public Links in a couple of weeks. I'm really excited about that, I love the Public Links. And I guess it's been really - the experience has helped me a lot because I really -I just want to stay patient and I know it will help me, yeah."

For all the scores, visit http://www.usopen.com/women/en_US/scoring/index.html.