Angela Stanford carded a bogey-free 8-under-par 64 to take a one-stroke lead over Michelle Wie midway through the LPGA Lotte Championship at Ko Olina Golf Club in Kapolei, Oahu, Hawaii.
Stanford birdied five consecutive holes through No. 7 and three more in a row through No. 13, but barely missed equaling the low round of her career, a 62 shot in the first round of the 2008 Safeway International.
“I guess it’s been a while,” said Stanford, who has won five times on the LPGA Tour, but not since the 2012 HSBC Women’s Champions. “I can’t really remember. It was nice to have today because I’ve had these stretches where I’ve played good in a round and then I’ll make a bogey or two and kind of lose my focus.
“So it was nice when I had a couple long par putts to make or when I had to get up‑and‑down, I did. It was nice to be in that zone all day. But today was about putting. Finally I got comfortable on these greens and it felt great. I mean, to see that the ball go in that much is a lot of fun. It was nice to see. I needed a round like that.”
Wie, the Stanford grad playing at home in Hawaii, recorded a bogey-free 67 despite missing a few short birdie putts.
Cristie Kerr also played bogey-free golf in a 66 that left her two strokes back in a tie for third with three South Koreans, top-ranked Inbee Park, who had a 68, and first-round co-leaders So Yeo Ryu and Hyo Joo Kim, who both shot 70.
Se Ri Pak of South Korea, who also had a share of the first-round lead, had a 71 and was three shots behind in a tie for seventh with another South Korean, Ha Na Jang, who came in at 69.
