Lewis battles through hail to take one-stroke advantage

DALY CITY, Calif. - Stacy Lewis noted that she was 29 and playing partner Lydia Ko was 17 when talking about their contrasting approaches to a storm delay Friday in the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.

“I think you try to stay patient during the delay more than anything, and try to stay loose,” Lewis said. “I didn’t sit down too much. Tried to stay up.”

Ko did the opposite.

“I sat down, had some chicken soup, played some cards,” Ko said. “I was totally relaxed.”

But she was careful to avoid hot chocolate.

“I had a cup of hot chocolate before during a delay and next hole I hit it out of bounds,” Ko said. “My mom brought me a cup and I was like, ‘Oh, that better not be hot chocolate.’ ”

Lewis (Arkansas Razorbacks) overcame rain and hail to take the second-round lead, shooting her second consecutive 3-under 69 at Lake Merced.

Winless since the Women’s British Open in August, the third-ranked Lewis had a one-stroke lead over Ko and first-round leader Karine Icher.

“We all went into the day knowing it would play hard,” said Lewis, who has five runner-up finishes since her victory at St. Andrews.

“It was a test of patience. I took it one shot at a time and wanted to get the ball into the hole as fast as I could. Fortunately, I was able to do that.”

Ko had a 71, and Icher followed her opening 66 with a 73.

Lewis and Ko played alongside Michelle Wie, dealing with heavy rain and hail that suspended play for just over an hour. Play resumed in steady drizzle that gave way to sunny afternoon conditions that helped several of the late starters.

PGA

Martin keeps his cool

AVONDALE, La. - When Ben Martin played junior golf, his father, Jim, would tell him that his demeanor should be the same every time he walked off a green, whether he made birdie or double bogey.

That might explain why Martin seemed so calm when his game briefly unraveled Friday in the middle of the second round of the Zurich Classic, and why he righted himself quickly enough to post the best two-round score ever at TPC Louisiana.

Martin, who shot a course-record 62 on Thursday, shook off his first bogey and double bogey of the tournament to finish with a 67 on Friday, putting him at 15 under - three shots ahead of closest pursuer Andrew Svoboda.

If Martin, 26, can continue to show that type of composure, he might capture his first PGA Tour victory.

“That’s my personality in general. Sometimes my wife gets mad at me because I don’t get excited about anything,” Martin said. “And then I don’t get down too much, either. That’s golf. You can’t expect to shoot 62 every day.”

Svoboda followed his opening 64 with a 68.

Robert Streb (66) and Sueng-Yul Noh (68) were tied for third at 11 under. Erik Compton also shot a 68 and was at 10 under, a score that keeps the two-time heart transplant recipient in contention for his maiden PGA Tour triumph.

Tied with Compton for fifth was Peter Hanson, who shot 69, four shots off the pace of his strong opening round.

Keegan Bradley (66), Jeff Overton (68) and Charley Hoffman (67) were 9 under.

Tag Ridings (Arkanss Razorbacks) followed his opening-round 71 with a 2-under 70 and sits 12 shots behind Martin in a tie for 47th along with Ken Duke (Arkadelphia, Henderson State) who shot a 4-under 68 on Friday.

Duke, who started on No. 10, birdied three of his last five holes of the day and finished the front nine with a4-under 32.

Scott Gardiner (Farmington) also shot a 68 to make the cut by a stroke at 2 under.

David Lingmerth (Arkansas) shot a 79 to finish at 3 over to miss the cut.

EUROPEAN PGA Levy leads by 4

HENZHEN, China - Alexander Levy of France shot a career-best 10-under 62 to open a four-shot lead after the second round of the China Open on Friday.

Henrik Stenson tried to keep alive his chances of taking over the No. 1 world ranking with a 70 to sit at 3 under overall, 11 shots behind Levy.

Levy, whose best finish on the European Tour is third place at last year’s BMW International Open, sunk a 20-foot eagle putt on the 9th hole to cap a front-nine 30.

Sports, Pages 28 on 04/26/2014

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