GA_googleAddSlot("ca-pub-1197233282945943", "Star_Sports_Skyscraper");

Sports

Published: Saturday May 23, 2009 MYT 7:53:00 AM

Karine Icher leads at Corning Classic

CORNING, New York: Karine Icher of France shot a 6-under 66 to gain a two-shot lead over Hee-Won Han of South Korea after two rounds at the Corning Classic on Friday.

Icher, the first-round co-leader at 8 under with Hee Young Park of South Korea, was at 14-under 130.

That broke the 36-hole record for the tournament by one shot and equaled the best back-to-back rounds in Corning history.

Seon Hwa Lee (67), Soo-Yun Kang (69) and Na Yeon Choi (68) of South Korea were tied for third at 10 under with Mikaela Parmlid of Sweden (67), Sandra Gal (69) of Germany, and Sarah Kemp (68) of Australia.

Park (73) was seven shots back and the cut was projected at 3 under (the tournament record was 1 under in both 2003 and 2007) as the players again took advantage of the near-ideal scoring conditions.

"You can go low 60s out here," said Parmlid, who has never finished higher than 10th in five-plus years on tour. "If you have a good iron day - oh my gosh! - you can light it up."

Icher certainly did.

She eclipsed the 36-hole record of 131 held by Michelle Estill (2004) and Beth Bader (2007) and matched the lowest consecutive rounds set by Juli Inkster on the final two rounds of her 2003 Corning triumph.

"If the other players can make birdies, I can do it, too," said Icher, whose best career finish was a second in 2005 at the Corona Morelia Championship.

"I know you learn more from your mistakes. I did a lot in the past. I was short to win some tournaments in '05 and '06. I hope right now it's going to help me go forward and I don't make the same mistakes."

Icher had only one slip-up on Friday, at the par-4 first hole, statistically one of the most difficult on the 6,223-yard Corning Country Club course.

She drove the right rough, then hit into a greenside bunker and two-putted for her lone bogey of the tournament.

Icher averaged nearly 260 yards off the tee and continued to excel with her short game on the narrow, tree-lined layout.

Of her seven birdies, four came on putts inside 10 feet, and she also displayed a deft stroke from a tough lie.

Her final birdie putt was uphill on the undulating green at the par-3 seventh hole, and she smiled broadly when the ball curled into the hole on its final rotation.

Over the two rounds, Icher hit 32 of 36 greens and 19 of 28 fairways, did not have a three-putt green, and needed just 56 putts.

"My driving was not so good as yesterday, I missed some fairways," said Icher, who hit 8 of 14 on Friday.

"But I had good putts. Right now what is working is my driving and my putting. If you drive in the middle and you putt well, you're going to make some birdies. This is the key. But this course still demands a lot of thinking. You can be five feet from the hole and be dead."

Han (67), who won at Corning three years ago, continued to take advantage of the four generous par-5s.

Over the first two rounds, she had six birdies and two pars on those holes and briefly tied Icher at 14 under with a birdie at the par-4 sixth hole before dropping back with a pair of bogeys on her final three holes.

"It was pretty important," Han said of her scoring on the par-5s.

"But there are lots of good players out there. Someone tomorrow can come out and go 10 or 11 under."

This is the final Corning Classic, and Lee is accustomed to playing in this atmosphere.

She won the final Shoprite Classic in 2006, the final HSBC Women's World Match Play Championship in 2007, and the final Ginn Tribute last year.

"I didn't think about that," Lee said. "If I win, it's another."

The summerlike weather continued and attendance swelled.

Parking lots adjacent to the course were full by 10 a.m. and another downtown at the Corning Museum of Glass also was full as fans were being encouraged to park at a nearby mall and take shuttle buses.

The Corning Classic, the smallest event on the U.S. LPGA Tour and the only one that's had the same title sponsor and been staged at the same venue every year since its inception (1979), will not be staged next year.

Tournament officials announced in April that they could not afford to renew their contract with the LPGA because of financial problems after title sponsor Corning Inc. pulled out. - AP

Scores Friday from the Corning Classic, a $1.5 million US LPGA Tour event at 6,223-yard, par-72 Corning Country Club:

Second Round=

Karine Icher 64-66_130

Hee-Won Han 65-67_132

Mikaela Parmlid 67-67_134

Seon Hwa Lee 67-67_134

Na Yeon Choi 66-68_134

Sarah Kemp 66-68_134

Sandra Gal 65-69_134

Soo-Yun Kang 65-69_134

Song-Hee Kim 67-68_135

Suzann Pettersen 67-68_135

Reilley Rankin 67-68_135

Jimin Jeong 66-69_135

Minea Blomqvist 65-70_135

Lorie Kane 70-66_136

Beth Bader 70-66_136

Meredith Duncan 69-67_136

Mi Hyun Kim 69-67_136

Helen Alfredsson 67-69_136

Lindsey Wright 67-69_136

Mika Miyazato 70-67_137

Ji Young Oh 70-67_137

Wendy Doolan 70-67_137

Katherine Hull 68-69_137

Nicole Castrale 66-71_137

Hee Young Park 64-73_137

Michele Redman 72-66_138

Brittany Lang 70-68_138

Marcy Hart 69-69_138

Becky Morgan 69-69_138

Angela Stanford 69-69_138

In-Kyung Kim 69-69_138

Pat Hurst 69-69_138

Natalie Gulbis 68-70_138

Yani Tseng 68-70_138

Il Mi Chung 67-71_138

Morgan Pressel 66-72_138

Paula Creamer 66-72_138

Sarah Lee 65-73_138

Se Ri Pak 73-66_139

Momoko Ueda 72-67_139

Jee Young Lee 72-67_139

Vicky Hurst 70-69_139

Janice Moodie 69-70_139

Jamie Hullett 69-70_139

Stacy Prammanasudh 69-70_139

Ai Miyazato 69-70_139

Kris Tamulis 69-70_139

Amy Hung 68-71_139

Cristie Kerr 68-71_139

Jiyai Shin 68-71_139

Meena Lee 67-72_139

Michelle Wie 73-67_140

Sun Young Yoo 72-68_140

Eunjung Yi 71-69_140

Stacy Lewis 71-69_140

Russy Gulyanamitta 70-70_140

Mollie Fankhauser 70-70_140

Rachel Hetherington 69-71_140

Jimin Kang 69-71_140

Alena Sharp 69-71_140

Amy Yang 68-72_140

Na On Min 67-73_140

Maria Hjorth 73-68_141

Karen Stupples 73-68_141

Eva Dahllof 72-69_141

Wendy Ward 72-69_141

Teresa Lu 71-70_141

Allison Hanna-Williams 70-71_141

Brittany Lincicome 70-71_141

Anna Grzebien 70-71_141

Sung Ah Yim 70-71_141

Shanshan Feng 69-72_141

Anna Nordqvist 69-72_141

Haeji Kang 68-73_141

Failed to qualify

Leah Wigger 75-67_142

Shi Hyun Ahn 74-68_142

Jill McGill 72-70_142

Louise Stahle 72-70_142

Meaghan Francella 72-70_142

Paige Mackenzie 71-71_142

Brandie Burton 71-71_142

Angela Park 71-71_142

Carin Koch 71-71_142

Karin Sjodin 70-72_142

Moira Dunn 70-72_142

Carri Wood 69-73_142

Mindy Kim 69-73_142

Shiho Oyama 69-73_142

Eun-Hee Ji 74-69_143

Laura Davies 72-71_143

Sophie Gustafson 72-71_143

Louise Friberg 72-71_143

Stephanie Louden 72-71_143

Joo Mi Kim 72-71_143

Jin Joo Hong 71-72_143

Kim Hall 71-72_143

Chella Choi 71-72_143

Christina Kim 71-72_143

Kris Tschetter 69-74_143

Heather Bowie Young 75-69_144

Johanna Mundy 74-70_144

Maggie Will 74-70_144

Kristy McPherson 73-71_144

Diana D'Alessio 71-73_144

Ashleigh Simon 70-74_144

Jeanne Cho-Hunicke 77-68_145

Anna Rawson 75-70_145

Liselotte Neumann 74-71_145

Young Jo 74-71_145

Erica Blasberg 72-73_145

Jennifer Rosales 70-75_145

Becky Lucidi 77-69_146

Charlotte Mayorkas 75-71_146

Linda Wessberg 75-71_146

M.J. Hur 73-73_146

Jeehae Lee 73-73_146

Marisa Baena 72-74_146

Irene Cho 71-75_146

Jackie Gallagher-Smith 69-77_146

Katie Futcher 76-71_147

Sophie Giquel 73-74_147

Inbee Park 70-77_147

Brandi Jackson 76-72_148

Laura Diaz 76-72_148

Jin Young Pak 75-73_148

Sarah Jane Smith 73-75_148

Dorothy Delasin 72-76_148

Na Ri Kim 76-73_149

Candie Kung 75-74_149

Laurie Rinker 75-74_149

Michelle Ellis 74-75_149

Allison Fouch 74-75_149

Kyeong Bae 74-75_149

Lisa Strom 73-76_149

Taylor Leon 73-76_149

Tracy Hanson 71-78_149

Perry Swenson 78-72_150

Silvia Cavalleri 73-77_150

Carolina Llano 75-76_151

Julieta Granada 75-76_151

Audra Burks 79-73_152

Jan Stephenson 77-75_152

Birdie Kim 75-78_153

Nicole Jeray 79-75_154

Aree Song 76_WD - AP


Latest sports news from AP-Wire

  • E-mail this story
  • Print this story

Sports Poll