Woods and 70 other players completed their second rounds at the tricky Locust Hill course in suburban Rochester on Saturday morning after play was interrupted by thunderstorms for nearly five hours Friday.
The 18-year-old Woods finished at 5-over 149 – four strokes above the cutline.
“I could have made a couple more birdies – or not as many bogeys – but I’m happy,” said Woods, who competed on a sponsor exemption. “Three more years at Wake Forest and then hopefully I’ll be back out here.”
Morgan Pressel picked up two birdies to finish second at 10 under, one behind Jiyai Shin. Stacy Lewis was third at 9 under, one better than Kristy McPherson.
Michelle Wie, Mindy Kim and Germany’s Sandra Gal, the first-round leader, were tied at 7 under.
Defending champion Eun-Hee Ji could only manage a 71 and crashed out with a 7-over total. Paula Creamer withdrew with a hand injury.
Cheyenne Woods watches her playing partners' tee shot at the fourth hole during the second round of the LPGA Wegmans golf tournament at Locust Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y. on Friday, June 26, 2009. Woods, Tiger Woods' niece, is 2-under-par thru ten holes of the second round when play was called.
In 2008, Shin became the first non-LPGA member to win three events. She reeled in the Women’s British Open last August, then followed with late-season wins in the Mizuno Classic and ADT Championship. In March, she captured the HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore for her first victory as a tour member.
Woods, ranked 93rd among college golfers, got to 2-under – and 1-over total – through 10 holes before darkness ended play Friday. She opened with a par Saturday morning, then drove into trees, lost her ball and made a triple-bogey at the par-4 12th.
“I lost my drive to the right on 12 and we couldn’t find it in the rough,” she lamented as dozens of fans lined up for autographs. “There was a spotter there, he heard it drop but he never saw it. We were looking around all over but we never found it.”
Woods finished the tournament by making an 8-foot putt for birdie.
“My goal was to make the cut, but I thought I played well for the most part,” she said, masking her disappointment with a smile similar to her famous uncle’s. “I was … comfortable out there and then, I don’t know, I just had a lot of fun and just tried to take in the moment.”
Sources: AP (Associated Press)
