Oct 10, 2008 - 10:59 PM
0 shoutsDANVILLE, California (Ticker) - In-Kyung Kim is eyeing her first career win, but world No. 1 Lorena Ochoa has designs on crashing her party again.
Kim recorded four birdies and carded a 3-under par 69 on Friday in the second round of the the $1.2 million Longs Drugs Challenge.
Kim holds a one-shot lead over Mollie Fankhauser and a two-stroke lead over Ochoa, who denied the 21-year-old her first win last season.
The South Korean has five top 10 finishes - including a third-place showing at the U.S. Open in June. Her best placing came last year at Wegman's when she finished second after losing a playoff to Ochoa.
Kim came to the United States as a 17-year-old and she said the chance to play against the likes of Ochoa made it an easy decision.
"I always wanted to come here and learn more about golf, it's different you know, I just wanted to play USGA tournaments and compete with the best golfers."
Kim, who began the day one shot back of the lead, recorded four birdies on the front nine and pared her last hole for a 33 at the turn.
The second-year pro stumbled at No. 10 as she bogeyed the par-4, but responded by making pars the rest of the way and is at 8-under 136 after two rounds.
"I feel I'm getting better," Kim said. "I try to get better every day. I practice hard and I have a good caddie this week. Yeah, hopefully I can win. I just want to play good and have some fun."
It may not be fun dealing with Ochoa again. The 26-year-old Mexican is third at 4-under 68 after firing seven birdies and an eagle. Ochoa, who also bogeyed four holes, is at 6-under par 138. Ochoa said the wind played a factor.
"There is really no other word to describe it, but it was just a really tough day," Ochoa said. "I made a few bogeys out there, and made a couple of silly mistakes, but at the same time I was just really pleased and really happy."
The leader on the money list, Ochoa is looking for her second win in three weeks.
She trails Fankhauser, who fired a 4-under 68. Fankhauser recorded six birdies, but sprinkled in a pair of bogeys and is at 7-under 137.
"It was pretty steady," Fankhauser said.
"I hit a lot of shots and was fortunate that I made more putts today. Just tried to keep it simple with the yardage and tried to calculate the wind and everything. So it was just pretty steady out there. Nothing spectacular, just kind of make some putts."
Angela Stanford, who birdied two of her last three holes, is fourth after a 3-under par 69 left her at 139.
Meanwhile, defending champion Suzann Pettersen had an up-and-down day and is in a three-way tie for fifth. Pettersen, who held off Ochoa in a playoff here last year, was undone by three bogeys and finished at even-par 72.
Pettersen is tied with Yani Tseng (140), Kristy McPherson (140) and Charlotte Mayorkas (140).
First prize is $180,000.
