Kerr, Lang Beat Rain At U.S. Open; Tied for Lead

Oakmont, PA, United States (AHN) – Cristie Kerr and Brittany Lang are atop the leaderboard at 1-over-par 143 at the rain-suspended second round of the U.S. Women’s Open. being played at Oakmont Country Club.

Kerr and Lang can rest overnight and wait to see what happens when second round play resumes Saturday at 7:30 a.m.

Strong thunderstorms hit Oakmont at 2:30 p.m. Friday and halted play. The USGA suspended action for the day at 4 p.m.

Lang, the first round leader, struggled a bit during her second round. She played the back nine first and made the turn at 1-over-par 36.

She rode the bogey train on holes five, six and seven but rallied with a birdie on her final hole of the day, the par-5 ninth for a 74.

Kerr got off to a nice start.

Like Lang, Kerr played the back nine first and was 1-under after her first five holes. She then hit her tee shot into an unplayable lie on the par-3 15th, took a drop and finished with a double-bogey.

Kerr added bogeys at 17 and 18 to make the turn at 3-over 38 and 4-over for the tournament.

She steadied herself and rallied on the front. Kerr birdied the fourth hole with a 20-foot putt, made another birdie from 23 feet on No. 5 then hit a 9-iron within three feet at the par-4 sixth.

She had a great chance to shoot under par for the day but ended up three-putting for a par on the par-5 ninth hole and finished with an even-par 71.

“You have to take opportunities when you have them for birdie and make them and get some momentum going,” said Kerr, describing her front-nine efforts. “That’s what I did on the front nine.”

Lang, who has never won, was happy to be done for the day.

“I feel really good,” said the former Duke player. “I feel better than I have in this position.”

While Lang stayed at the top, some players behind her fared poorly in their second rounds.

Amy Yang, Kelli Shean, Inbee Park and M.J. Hurr all shot 70 on Thursday.

Friday they all stumbled. Yang shot 75, Park 78, Shean, the amateur from South Africa, shot 79, and Hur completely fell apart with an 81.

Christina Kim was a shot behind Kerr and Lang. She recorded a second straight 72 and was in at 2-over, 144.

One player was technically at even par. Sophie Gustafson had just started her round and birdied the first hole to get back to even par for the tournament but has 17 holes left to play.

Another five players were 1-over for the tournament but had either just started or were waiting to start their second rounds.

While they have to worry about a very, very long day on Saturday, Kerr was looking forward to her evening.

“I think it’s gonna be great for me to get some rest, maybe go catch a movie and get out here tomorrow,” said the pre-tournament favorite and the world’s No. 1 player.

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