Seven-under Pettersen shares lead in Taiwan

TAOYUAN, Taiwan (AFP) –

Suzann Pettersen of Norway tees off at the eighth hole during the second round of 2012 Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship at Sunrise Golf and Country Club in northern Taoyuan county. Pettersen shot seven-under-par 65 to catch Park In-Bee at the top of the Sunshine LPGA Taiwan Championship leaderboard Friday.

Norway’s in-form Suzann Pettersen shot seven-under-par 65 to catch Park In-Bee at the top of the Sunshine LPGA Taiwan Championship leaderboard Friday.

Pettersen, who won last week’s LPGA Hanabank Championship, grabbed a share of the lead on 10-under-par 134, as South Korea’s Park, the overnight leader, carded 69 on day two at the par-72 Sunrise Golf and Country Club.

“I gave myself three good looks on the first three holes, chipped it in on the fourth, and really just tried to stay aggressive… and firing at the pins,” Pettersen said after the game.

“I’m really just trying to enjoy this while it lasts because tomorrow could be a completely different day out there.”

Park, who has enjoyed 10 top-10 finishes out of 20 tournaments this year, said it was hard to keep her momentum going after two short putts missed early in the round, but she pulled it off with four birdies in a row on the Front 9.

“At the first birdie, I made a putt… so I just needed that one putt to fall, and that fell and just gave me a lot of confidence after that,” Park said. “So four birdies was the highlight of the day today.”

World number one Yani Tseng, the defending champion, also shot 69 to lie tied for third place, two shots off the lead, alongside Catriona Matthew of Scotland, who recorded a 66.

America’s Alison Walshe was alone in fifth, Cristie Kerr had a share of sixth and Japan’s Ai Miyazato was among four players tied on ninth.

“It could have been better today… I thank all the crowd here who walked with me and cheered me up,” said Tseng, who is hoping to break a seven-month winless streak in front of her home fans.

Tseng has gone off the boil this year with no wins since March, including 11 straight tournaments without a top-10 finish and three missed cuts, although she finished third last week in South Korea.