Angela Stanford, Song-Hee Kim share HSBC Champions lead in Singapore

Stanford, Kim share lead in Singapore

SINGAPORE — Angela Stanford shot a 1-under 71 on Friday for a share of the lead with Song-Hee Kim after the second round of the HSBC Champions.

Stanford, the former TCU star who has four LPGA Tour victories, and Kim (70) had 5-under 139 totals on Tanah Merah’s Garden Course during another hot, windy day where the temperature reached 94 degrees.

“I felt like I played the front nine really well and the back nine, not so well,” Stanford said. “So I don’t know, I guess it could be a combination of things, but it was a completely different wind on the back side, literally switched as I got to (the) tee.”

Hall of Famer Juli Inkster (70) was a stroke back along with Ai Miyazato (71), Suzann Pettersen (70), Hee-Won Han (67) and Sun Young Yoo (70). Last week in the season-opening LPGA Thailand, Miyazato rallied to beat Pettersen by a stroke.

Cristie Kerr (73) trailed by two strokes, while Karrie Webb was another shot back after a 72.

Top-ranked Lorena Ochoa, tied for the first-round lead after a 68, had a 79 to drop eight strokes back at 3 over. She had four bogeys and a triple bogey on the par-4 18th. The Mexican star won the inaugural tournament in 2008.

It was reminiscent of her 79 in the second round of last year’s U.S. Women’s Open. Her worst round on tour is an 81 at the Wegmans LPGA at the Locust Hill Country Club in Pittsford, N.Y., in 2004. But she was not yet counting herself out of contention.

“I’m still going to try to finish strong,” Ochoa said. “It’s important tomorrow to shoot 6 or 7 under.”

Opponents had to look twice when they saw the score.

“I thought it was a mistake,” Stanford said. “I looked up at the board and I’m like ‘Do they have that right up there?’”

Defending champion Jiyai Shin was 2 under after her second straight 71, and Michelle Wie was 1 over after a 73.