Sorenstam ties Turner for lead at Corning

CORNING, N.Y. - If Annika Sorenstam can figure out what keeps going wrong when she's on a roll, watch out.

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Sorenstam shot a 4-under 68 on Friday to tie Sherri Turner for the second-round lead at the LPGA Corning Classic. Seeking her fifth win in six starts this year, Sorenstam jumped to the top of the leaderboard after a four-hour delay caused by lightning and rain, finishing the two rounds at 7-under 137.

She had a string of four straight birdies, but just when the Swede appeared unstoppable, she faltered with two straight bogeys to halt her momentum.

"I got it going there for a while," said Sorenstam, who had a pair of eagles, three birdies and four bogeys in her opening 69. "I made a few bad swings coming in. Just a few swings got away from me. Other than that, I think I'm playing well. I'm happy to be up on top of the leaderboard."

Play was stopped because of darkness after Sorenstam's threesome finished, leaving 62 players on the course who will have to complete their rounds on Saturday morning.

That left the defending champion of this event smiling.

"That's the good news. It's been a long day," Sorenstam said. "For me to be able to finish will give me a peaceful evening and I can sleep in. It'll be nice. It'll be a really long weekend for some players."

Not for Turner, whose string of luck continued. She played in the afternoon group on Thursday, after an early swirling wind settled down. On Friday, she completed the second round under near ideal conditions before the storms, finishing with a 1-under 71.

"I think we were pretty lucky this morning," said the 48-year-old Turner, who had a first-round 66 to tie Sophie Gustafson for the lead. "I was thinking I had a good tee time the first two days, for sure."

The rain softened the course and made the scoring easier after the wind-swept first round. Sung Ah Yim of South Korea birdied No. 2, aced the third hole, and birdied the next two holes for a stunning rally that moved her to 6 under with two holes to play. She was tied with Moira Dunn, who shot a 68, and Karine Icher, who had four holes to play.

Jimin Kang and Gustafson were at 5 under and also had to complete their rounds.

Sorenstam birdied the first two par-5s to move to 5 under, carding the second after a nice chip-and-roll to 3 feet as the rain began to fall. Play was halted after she parred No. 6.

When Sorenstam emerged from the locker room after the stoppage, she carded two pars before rolling in a 16-foot birdie putt at No. 9.

A fan yelled 'You go girl!' as the putt dropped, and that's exactly what Sorenstam did. A long drive at the 364-yard No. 10 - which she bogeyed in the opening round - and a soft second shot that landed 6 feet of the pin set up her second straight birdie.

At the par-3 11th hole, she drove within 5 feet and made birdie again to go to 8 under, then rolled in a curving 9-foot putt for another birdie at the par-5 12th hole to take sole possession of the lead at 9 under.

Just when she seemed unstoppable, Sorenstam faltered, just as she did in the first round. After a par at the tough No. 13, she carded consecutive bogeys.

The first came at the par-5 14th, which she eagled on Thursday. After laying up in front of the elevated green, Sorenstam chunked her third shot and it spun back off the front edge of the green into the rough. She chipped on and two-putted from 12 feet.

At the 125-yard, par-3 15th hole, Sorenstam's drive landed in the sand trap to the right of the green and she two-putted from 11 feet after blasting out of the sand.

"There's been some streaks in there," Sorenstam said. "Once I get a birdie or an eagle, I keep on going, but then it seems like when I make a bogey, I do the same thing."

Rain started falling around 1 p.m. and play was halted a half hour later.

Divots: Vicki Goetze-Ackerman, who is pregnant with her first child, had a shaky start and seemed about to miss the cut when she skied to 6 over with three bogeys over her first eight holes. But she rallied for a 71 and a 2-over total of 146, one stroke better than the projected cut.... Tessa Teachman, a 15-year-old amateur from Rochester, N.Y., and the youngest player to ever qualify at Corning, won't make the cut in her first tour event. After an opening 1-under 71, she was 10 over on Friday with five holes to play. Amateur Brittany Laing fared better in her third LPGA event. She shot her second straight 71.