SAMANTHA, KIRAN SURVIVE SECOND-ROUND CUT AT LPGA SECTIONAL QUALIFYING

Samantha Head (146), pictured left, and Kiran Matharu (149) survived the second-round cut wich saw 83 players with totals of 150 or better advance to Friday's third round in the LPGA Sectional Qualifying tournament at Mission Hills Country Club, California.

FROM THE LPGA WEBSITE:

Yani Tseng of Taiwan and Kelly Lagedrost of Florida are tied for the lead. Tseng and Lagedrost are each four-under-par 140 entering Friday's third round. Eighty-three players made the cut on Thursday, which was at six-over-par 150.

Eighteen-year-old Tseng fired a four-under-par 68 (72-68=140) on the 6,442yd Dinah Shore Course to move into a tie for first place. Starting on the tenth tee, Tseng birdied her first two holes before four-putting for double bogey on hole 12. She recovered with birdies on holes 14 and 15 to make the turn at two-under-par. Tseng had three more birdies on the back nine – holes 2, 8 and 9 – with one bogey on hole 4.
“I played pretty good and I had confidence today,” said Tseng. “I played too fast yesterday, so for the first couple of holes I remembered that I have to slow down today.”
A native of Taiwan who recently bought a home in Southern California, Tseng made her second appearance on the LPGA Tour at the 2007 CN Canadian Women's Open where she finished tied for sixth.

In Edmonton, Tseng fired four consecutive rounds of even-par or better, including two 67s. She finished the week at eight-under-par 276 in a tie with Kimberly Hall and Seon Hwa Lee. Her first LPGA tournament was the 2004 Asahi Ryokuken International Championship at Mount Vintage where she finished tied for 33rd.
“That tournament (CN Canadian Women's Open) helped me a lot,” said Tseng. “Before that, I felt very nervous to play Q-School, but after the (CN Canadian) Women's Open, I felt more confident and more relaxed. So I said, ‘okay, I can play, I can make it.'”
Lagedrost (28), who played the 6,406yd Arnold Palmer Course, started her day with birdies on holes 4 and 8 to make the turn at 2-under par. She carded bogies on holes 12 and 16 to shoot even-par 72 in the second round (68-72=140).
“I'm very happy with the way I held it together and grinded through it,” said Lagedrost. “It was getting tough out there. The wind was really a factor. It was ballooning and kind of swirling and I didn't really know which way it was going.”
Lagedrost was the 2001 Conference USA Player of the Year at the University of South Florida. She recorded three collegiate wins before joining the Duramed Futures Tour, where she has played every year since 2002. Lagedrost had stints on the LPGA Tour in 2004 and 2006, where she played 27 events, making five cuts.
“The mental part is my big thing, trusting myself,” said Lagedrost, who spent part of 2007 as the interim head coach of women's golf at the University of South Florida. “Everyone deals with it out here. I feel like I have the talent and I can produce the shots obviously, it's just a matter of doing it on a regular basis and believing in myself. I'm working on that.”
Four players are two shots behind the lead in a tie for third place. Ashleigh Simon of South Africa, Annie Young of Utah, Song Yi Choi of South Korea and Jennifer Ackerson of Texas all enter the third round at two-under-par 142.
The final two rounds will be played on the Dinah Shore course at Mission Hills Country Club. The top-30 players and ties at the end of 72 holes will advance to the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla., Nov. 28-Dec. 2.
The Rancho Mirage qualifier is the first of the LPGA Tour's two sectional qualifying events in 2007. The second LPGA Tour Sectional Qualifying Tournament is Oct. 2-5 at Plantation Golf and Country Club in Venice, Fla. The top-30 finishers and ties from the Florida qualifier will join the California sectional qualifiers, current LPGA Tour members attempting to improve their status and the players who finished sixth through 15th on the final 2007 Duramed Futures Tour money list at the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament at LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla., Nov. 28 – Dec. 2.

LEADING SECOND-ROUND TOTALS

Par 144 (2 x 72)

140 Kelly Lagedrost 68 72, Yani Tseng 72 68.

142 Song Yi Choi 69 73, Jennifer Ackerson 69 73, Ashleigh Simon (SAf) 73 69, Annie Young 72 70.

143 Whitney Wade 72 71, Hwan Hee Lee 70 73, Kristie Smith 73 70, Emma Cabrera (Spa) 73 70.

144 Katie Allison 68 76, Priscilla Duffield 70 74, Nikki Garrett 72 72.

145 Ashley Knoll 71 74, Anna Rawson 71 74, Lauren Todd 70 75, Amy Yang 73 72, D'Rae Ward 72 73, Nontaya Srisawang 71 74.

146 Samantha Head (Eng) 73 73, Joanne Mills 71 75, Hannah Jun 70 76, Helen Oh 73 73, Jin Hyun Kim 75 71, Michelle Simpson 74 71.

147 Amy Schmucker 72 75, Jenna Pearson 73 74, Amy Cochran 67 80, Nicole Hage 69 78, Tiffany Tavee 72 75, Louise Friberg 74 73, Dana Je 75 72, Russy Gulyanamitta 76 71, May Wood 73 74, Danah Ford 73 74, Catherine Matranga 74 73.

148 Shashan Feng 73 75, Anja Monke (Ger) 73 75, Ashley Gomes 73 75, Jana Peterkova 72 76, Jenny Suh 71 77, Rachel Newren 71 77, Sarah-Jane Kenyon 72 76, Nikcole Melton 73 75, Misun Cho 75 73, Christina Lecuyer 76 72, Joanna Whitley 77 71, Sukjin Lee Wuesthoff 75 73, Kelly Froelich 73 75, Cortney Reno 74 74, Krystal Shearer 74 74.

Other scores:

149 Kiran Matharu (Eng) 77 72, Esther Choe 78 71.

+All the scores are available on the LPGA website: http://www.lpga.com/default_new.aspx