Park Leads a Diverse Leader Board

11 of the Field's Top 14 Players Hail From Abroad

EDINA, Minn., June 27 -- The LPGA Tour prides itself on the worldwide diversity of its membership, an obvious recent development in the four major championships of women's golf. Of the last 30 majors, 24 have been won by international players, and the leader board halfway through the 63rd U.S. Women's Open points to that trend possibly continuing by the time they hand out the trophy early Sunday evening.

After a storm-interrupted second round at Interlachen Country Club Friday, only three Americans -- including defending champion Cristie Kerr and 21-year-old Paula Creamer -- were among the top 14 players on a board filled with names from all corners of the globe. Playing in the afternoon, Kerr came back after a 2-hour 20-minute weather delay and got in just before dark with a second-round 70 and total of 4-under-par 142. Playing in the uninterrupted morning draw, Creamer posted 72 and also was at 142.

Angela Park, the LPGA rookie of the year in 2007 who tied for second in the Open at Pine Needles in North Carolina last year, had the low round of the day, a 67 that left her at 6-under 140 for the week and the leader in the clubhouse. A 19-year-old native of Brazil who also led this event after 36 holes last year, Park held a one-shot advantage over Swedish veteran Helen Alfredsson (71-141), Finland's Minea Blomqvist (69-141) and 19-year-old South Korean Inbee Park (69-141), who tied for fourth in the 2007 Open.

Alfredsson, 43 and plagued by a variety of injuries over her career, was at 6 under through 28 holes when thunder and lightning erupted around the course. When she came back, she played her final eight holes in one over, completing her round in near darkness.

Thirty-six players were not as fortunate and will have to finish their second rounds Saturday starting at 7 a.m. That would include 18-year-old Michelle Wie, 10 over after 35 holes and virtually certain to miss the projected cut of 4-over 150 after taking a disastrous nine on the ninth hole in the first round Thursday. A day later, she parred the same hole.

"This is the first time in all of my career that I feel really good" about her health, said Alfredsson, captain of the losing European Solheim Cup team last year and runner-up in the '93 Open. "I know I don't have that many years left, but it feels good to know my body is allowing me to hit shots you want to hit."

Lorena Ochoa, the No. 1 player in the world and winner of two of the last three majors, will have to come from the pack if she expects to win her second major of the season. Playing with Kerr and amateur María José Uribe (74-143), Ochoa also posted 74 and was at 1-over 147, trailing Park by seven shots. Creamer, No. 4 in the world rankings, may be the best young American player in the game, with six victories on the LPGA Tour since she turned professional at age 17. But she's never won a major title and has not had a top 10 finish in the Open in five previous appearances. She also admitted after her second round that perhaps she has been putting too much pressure on herself to break through for her first major victory.

Creamer long ago branded herself as the tour's "Pink Panther" because she likes the color and the animal. She plays many of her rounds dressed head to toe in pink, shoe laces and hair ribbons included, and often uses a pink golf ball on Sundays. But she's hardly been in the pink in the final round of this tournament, averaging 75.6 strokes on Sundays in her five Open appearances and never posting a score in the 60s.

"That's always been the problem -- the pressure and the amount of emphasis I've put on a major," she said Friday. "I'm really just going out to try to play my own game. I'm having a lot of fun."

For the first two rounds, she was paired with three-time Open champion Annika Sorenstam, who has already announced that she is retiring from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season. Creamer said she was honored to be playing with Sorenstam in her final Open, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience over the last two days.

"You're walking out there and you hear everybody saying 'thanks for the memories, thank you for what you've done,' " Creamer said. "And it's true. She's definitely raised the bar for women's golf and she has had such a big impact on where we're at today."

Sorenstam would love to have a major impact again this weekend. She played mostly gorgeous golf, tee to green, for a second straight day, only to have the same sort of putting problems that have plagued her in the season's first two majors. She tied for second at the Kraft Nabisco in April and tied for third at the LPGA Championship three weeks ago.

Sorenstam needed 33 putts Friday in her round of three-under 70, leaving her at one-under 145 for the week and five shots off Park's lead. Her frustration was never more apparent than at the 530-yard 18th hole when she drilled a 3-wood second shot from the fairway that landed just in front of the green and rolled to within five feet of the cup. for a potential eagle.

Instead of making an eagle, she missed the putt by inches, the story of her first two rounds. She's taken 33 putts both days; on Friday, she reached 16 greens in regulation and missed only two fairways.

"I'm working on things," Sorenstam said of her mediocre putting. "I have a tendency to have a short back swing and then I hit it rather than taking it back slower, longer and then just kind of let the putter go through. So it's short and jabby and then the ball sometimes jumps and you don't get the roll you want. . . . I think I'm hitting the ball as good as I can. I'm excited about playing and I'm really looking forward to the weekend."

So is Angela Park. A year ago in this event, she held a two-shot lead after 36 holes, then posted a 74 in the third round before getting back into contention with a 70 on Sunday, tying for second with Ochoa, two behind the champion Kerr.

"I keep reminding myself that there are a lot more holes to be played and anything can happen on one hole," said Park, with five birdies and an eagle on her card. "From last year, I think I would take a lot more patience and a lot more knowing where not to miss the greens or where to hit my ball. . . . This is a tournament where I really want to do well, and especially having a good finish last year gives me the reminder that I can."