Stanford Extends Lead in Hawaii


Angela Stanford followed up an 8-under 64 with a 67 to head into the final round of the 72-hole LPGA LOTTE Championship with a four-shot lead. The $1.7 million tournament had an unusual Wednesday start at Ko Olina Golf Club in Kapolei on the island of Oahu.

The 36-year-old Fort Worth native was not quite as flawless as she was on Thursday, when she posted eight birdies and had no dropped shots, but almost.

On Friday, the five-time LPGA winner - whose last victory came in the 2012 HSBC Women's Champions - posted six birdies and a bogey.

Stanford, who stands at 13-under 203, feels she's in a good place heading into Saturday's final round. "I kind of found something and, for some reason, I just have really good feel on these greens, and I'm seeing the break well," she said.

Tied for second at 9-under are South Korea's Hyo Joo Kim (69) and local favorite, Michelle Wie, who had four birdies and a pair of bogeys for a 70.

Wie has been playing well of late - including a runner-up finish to Lexi Thompson in the Kraft Nabisco Championship two weeks ago. But she found Ko Olina's greens confounding on Friday.

"It's kind of like a head-scratcher kind of day," the 24-year-old told Golf Channel. "A lot of putts just did not break the way I thought they were going to."

Alone in fourth and five strokes behind Stanford after a 70 is Cristie Kerr, while in fifth at 6-under are American Amy Anderson (68) and Koreans Inbee Park and So Yeon Ryu, who each had 72s.

Chella Choi and Katie Burnett, who carded a 70 and 72, respectively, are tied for eighth at 4-under 212.

Sharing 10th at 3-under are Julieta Granada, Amelia Lewis, Haru Nomura and Se Ri Pak. Pak, who had a share of the 18-hole lead after a 68, shot a 74 on a breezy Friday in Hawaii.

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