CARMEL, Ind. (Aug. 7, 2007)-- Stacy Lewis, of The Woodlands, Texas, and Kristina Wong, of Vestal, N.Y., share the lead by a stroke at the halfway point of the second round of stroke-play qualifying at the 2007 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Crooked Stick Golf Club.
Both players shot 2-under-par 70 in Monday’s first round and followed with 69s on Tuesday for a 36-hole total of 5-under-par 139.
Lewis, 22, the 2007 individual NCAA Division I champion who plays at Arkansas, posted five birdies and two bogeys. However, her focus was on moving into match play not winning the qualifying medal.
"The medalist hasn’t had that much success,” said Lewis, who was on the winning USA team at the 2007 Copa de las Americas in Canada in June. “I was just playing for par and I got the putter rolling.”
Wong, 16, is playing in her fourth U.S. Women’s Amateur.
"My main goal is to make the cut and take it one step at a time,” said Wong, who will be a high school junior in the fall. “It was good to have that experience because I knew the field was tough and the courses are always difficult so staying patient was the main thing.”
Like Lewis, she realizes the fleeting fame of winning the medal.
"That would be awesome but after (Tuesday) it’s a brand new tournament,” Wong said of winning the medal. "Being medalist would be cool but I couldn’t get too hung up on it.”
A trio of 17-year-olds from Korea trail Lewis and Wong at 4-under-par 140. They are:
So Yeon Ryu (71-69), Jennifer Song (67-73) and Mi Jung Hur (68-72).
"My putting has been good,” Hur said. “The score is not a liar.”
Song, the co-low amateur at the 2007 Women’s Open, had tied Candace Schepperle, 19, of Birmingham, Ala., for the low round of the championship with her 5-under-par 67 Tuesday morning after three weather delays on Monday.
Schepperle, the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year honors from Auburn, had an afternoon starting time.
A pair of USGA champions – 2006 Women’s Amateur Public Links winner Tiffany Joh of San Diego, Calif. and 2007 Girls’ Junior winner Kristen Park of Buena Park, Calif. – also started in the afternoon.
Defending champion Kimberly Kim, 15, of Hilo, Hawaii (73-73—146) and Mina Harigae, of Monterey, Calif., the 2007 Women’s Amateur Public Links champion (72-72—144), safely advanced to match play.
--Story by USGA's Pete Kowalski
ABOUT THE U.S. Women's Amateur
The U.S. Women's Amateur, the third
oldest of
the USGA championships, was first played
in 1895
at Meadowbrook Club in Hempstead, N.Y.
The
event is open to any female amateur who
has a
USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 5.4.
The
Women's Amateur is one of 14 national
championships conducted annually by the
USGA,
10 of which are strictly for amateurs.
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