Lewis Now in Front of Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic


On a cool, chilly day in San Francisco spiced with hail, Stacy Lewis managed her game, carding a second straight 3-under 69 to take the halfway lead in the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic. The $1.8 million, 72-hole event is being played at Lake Merced Golf Club in San Francisco.

The 29-year-old Lewis, an eight-time LPGA winner currently ranked No. 3 in the world behind Inbee Park and Suzann Pettersen, posted five birdies and a pair of birdies for a 6-under 138 total, good for a one-stroke lead over Lydia Ko, who carded a 71, and first-round leader Karine Icher, who followed up her opening 66 with a 73.

The start of the opening round on Thursday underwent a two-hour fog delay, and the second round was similarly affected by bad weather, this time a storm that came through California's Bay Area to halt play for an hour.

Instead of kicking back, Lewis stayed busy during the suspension of play. "I think you try to stay patient during the delay more than anything, and try to stay loose," she said. "I didn't sit down too much. Tried to stay up."

Ko became excited about the hailstorm when it came through the course. "I was crazy and out of my mind thinking about putting in the hail . . . It started getting dark, and I'm glad I was called off."

Yet, once in the clubhouse, Ko, like Lewis, cooled her jets during the delay. "I sat down, had some chicken soup, played some cards," said Ko, who turned 17 on Thursday. "I was totally relaxed."

Tied for fourth at 3-under 141 are South Koreans Park - who followed up her opening 73 with a five-birdie-one-bogey 68 - and Ilhee Lee (73), and Japan's Mika Miyazato (69).

Park, the top-ranked female player in the world, said she took advantage of not having to endure the day's worst weather. "It was a very good putting day and I hit a lot of fairways," she said. "I got a little lucky with the weather. I only had to play in the rain for four holes."

Thailand's P.K. Kongkraphan (68), Scottish player Catriona Matthew (69), American Brittany Lang (71), Colombia's Paola Moreno (71), Norway's Pettersen (72) Spaniard Carlota Ciganda (72) and Koreans Haeji Kang (70), Hyo-Joo Kim (73) and Jenny Shin (74) are log-jammed in seventh at 2-under.

Michelle Wie posted her second straight 72 and is only six behind Lewis entering the weekend. Wie, the winner in last week's LPGA Lotte Championship, easily made the 36-hole cut of 5-over 149.

For all the scores, visit www.lpga.com.