AFP

Ochoa grabs LPGA lead while Sorenstam slides back

Sat May 17, 7:13 PM

CLIFTON, New Jersey (AFP) - World number one Lorena Ochoa of Mexico birdied the last three holes to fire a five-under par 67 here Saturday, seizing a two-stroke lead after the second round of the LPGA Sybase Classic.

Ochoa, whose four-event win streak was snapped last week by Sweden's Annika Sorenstam, stood on nine-under 135 after 36 holes in the two million-dollar tournament with Sweden's Sophie Gustafson and Taiwan's Teresa Lu next on 137.

The tournament was shortened to 54 holes on Friday after heavy rain swamped the layout with less than half the field on the course, wiping out what play had been achieved in favor of restarting the second round Saturday.

South Koreans Hye-Jung Choi and Na Yeon Choi each fired 68s to share fourth on 138, one stroke ahead of American Brittany Lang and two better than American Kristy McPherson, Britain's Catriona Matthew and Sorenstam, who fired a 73.

Second-ranked Sorenstam, who announced Tuesday she will retire at the end of the 2008 season, shared the lead when the round began but was undone by a double bogey at the 18th hole.

Ochoa birdied three of the four par-5 holes to move atop the leaderboard, She birdied the par-3 third and par-5 fifth holes, followed a birdie at the par-5 11th with her only bogey of the day at 12 and birdied 16, 17 and 18 to take command.

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