In-Kyung Kim holds up her ball on the fourth green during the third round of the Lorena Ochoa Invitational.

GUADALAJARA, Mexico – South Korea’s In-Kyung Kim won the Lorena Ochoa Invitational on Sunday for her third LPGA Tour title, closing with an 8-under 64 for a three-stroke stroke victory over Suzann Pettersen.

Kim played the front nine in 6-under 30 and added three birdies and a bogey on the final nine.

“I don’t know how to really take this all in,” Kim said. “But it’s been a great week. I mean, on the golf course, I played very good golf all week. The putts pretty much kept dropping today.

“Yesterday, it was missing this way and that way, and today, it started going in, the next started going in, and another one, and I’m like, wow.”

She had a tournament-record 19-under total on the Guadalajara Country Club course and earned $220,000, which she said she’s donating to charity – half to the Lorena Ochoa Foundation and half to an American organization to be determined.

“Before I came to the U.S., I wanted to come to the U.S., but I know it’s tough and my parents are working really hard at the time when I was 16,” Kim said. “And we weren’t really rich, but it takes a lot of money to send me to the U.S. and go to school and all that. But there is one person who helped my parents, and if he didn’t help my parents, or if he didn’t help me coming to the U.S., I wouldn’t really be here. Everyone needs help. I think that’s why I’m all about that.”

Pettersen shot a 68. The Norwegian star has six second-place finishes and 11 top-five finishes in 18 starts this season. She’s winless since the 2009 Canadian Women’s Open.

“Another second-place finish. It sucks,” she said.

Pettersen had a double bogey on the fourth hole.

“Hit one bad shot and that cost me two shots,” she said. “And she made a birdie on the last. It kind of it felt like I gave her a gap. But other than that, I’m making some great putts coming down the stretch.

Karine Icher finished third at 15 under, holing out from the fairway on No, 18 for a 68.

Cristie Kerr (66) and U.S. Women’s Open champion Paula Creamer (68) tied for fourth at 14 under, and Ai Miyazato (70) finished at 13 under.

Ochoa, playing her first LPGA Tour event since retiring in April, shot a 74 on her home course, leaving her 19 strokes back in a tie for 25th.

“For sure I wanted to play better, but I think it was important for the week for me to try to enjoy it as much as I could, and that’s what I did,” Ochoa said. “It was the first time to have my husband on the course, and I think we both had a good time. And I want to say ‘Thank you,’ to the players for being here and making this tournament so special.”

Husband Andres Conesa, the CEO of Aeromexico, caddied for Ochoa.

“It was a great experience, something that you don’t change,” he said. “Obviously, she would like to have a better round today, but she leaves very happy and it was a great experience for both of us.”

Kim praised Ochoa after the victory.

“She’s just down to earth,” Kim said. “She is always there. She is not just a great golfer. She has great warm heart. So that’s why she’s my idol. I don’t have many idols. I want you to know that.”

Kim also won the 2008 Longs Drugs Challenge and 2009 LPGA State Farm Classic.

The tour is off the next two weeks. The season-ending LPGA Tour Championship is Dec. 2-5 at Grand Cypress in Orlando, Fla.

Lorena Ochoa (right) with husband and caddie Andres Conesa

GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Lorena Ochoa stood on the second tee box and rested her chin ever so briefly on the shoulder of her caddie. In the fairway, she gave him a love pat as they discussed her options for the approach. AeroMexico CEO Andres Conesa, the only caddie this week who needed his own security detail, was hard at work for his wife, who happens to be a national icon here in Mexico. Ochoa went on to birdie the second hole from 15 feet, and it looked like she might get off to the strong start she talked about. Unfortunately, rust prevailed.

“It was really difficult for me,” said Ochoa, who opened the Lorena Ochoa Invitational Nov. 11 with a 2-over 74. “I didn’t have any control on my shots.”

Ochoa, who at least looked sharp in her black and white ensemble, air-mailed the par-5 18th green with her third shot and then sent her fourth scurrying past the hole some 50 feet. She three-putted from there for double-bogey, but still managed to give the crowds a smile. After all, she is retired. 

Ochoa hit four balls over the green during her roller-coaster round. She got stuck in the trees on the par-4 fifth and made double-bogey. A three-putt bogey on the par-5 ninth was another disappointment. Ochoa grew up a pitching wedge from the first tee at Guadalajara Country Club, making it all the more frustrating not to be able to score.

Still, one gets the impression that anytime Ochoa can spend the day walking alongside her husband it’s a good day. When she got up and down out of the bunker on the fourth hole the pair shared a fist bump. It’s unknown if they were celebrating her par or Conesa’s raking skills.

“I was very impressed,” said Ochoa, who has worked with Conesa on his looping etiquette the last several months. “He was taking care of his, how do you say … his duties.”

Conesa, incidentally, wore an AeroMexico hat. Free marketing this week for the airline exec, who is as genuine and kind as his boss.

Ochoa played Thursday with good friend Ai Miyazato and Pat Hurst who, like Lorena, is playing this week on a sponsor exemption. One could go up and down the range here in Mexico and listen to one player after another express how much this tour misses Ochoa.

“I think she’s been missed by players, by sponsors even, and particularly by fans,” said Katherine Hull. “She was so down-to-earth.”

Ochoa plans to play in her invitational each year, but won’t sign up for any other events in the next three years. Her best finish in Guadalajara is T-6. 

“I’m enjoying the crowds and with so many emotions sometimes it’s difficult to get the job done,” Ochoa said. “But my goal is to be happy and satisfied and what’s done is done.”

Roland Thatcher during the second round of the 2010 Children’s Miracle Network Classic.

Images from Round 2 of the Children’s Miracle Network Classic at Disney.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – All Roland Thatcher wanted to do this week was prepare for qualifying school. He even joked with his amateur partners that he was treating the PGA Tour finale as a practice round.

“Obviously,” Thatcher said, “the goal has changed.”

Thatcher eased through the toughest of the two courses in the second round of the Children’s Miracle Network Classic on Friday, shooting a 9-under 63 to take a four-shot lead over Chris Stroud and Brian Gay.

Thatcher began the week 179th on the money list, and needs to finish alone in second place to vault into the top 125 – the cutoff for full status next year. Nos. 126-150 will get conditional status.

“Pun intended, I wouldn’t mind being referred to as Cinderella for the week,” he said.

Players swap between the Magnolia and Palm courses in the first two rounds. Only the Magnolia Course, about 500 yards longer with more undulating greens, is used on the weekend.

Thatcher got a head start.

He hit 15 of 18 greens and had only 23 putts on the Magnolia. About the only hiccup in his round – and it wasn’t much of one – came when he missed a 17-foot putt for eagle on the 10th hole.

“There really wasn’t many opportunities for me to make much lower than what I did as far as the round went,” Thatcher said. “It was as low as it could go.”

Thatcher wasn’t the only one on the leaderboard fighting for a tour card.

Stroud was the first-round leader, three shots ahead of Thatcher, but with far less pressure. At 119th on money list, Stroud merely needed to avoid missing the cut to maintain full status. He followed up his good start with a wild second-round 70 complete with seven birdies and five bogeys.

Gay (65) is 59th on the money list.

Three others who began barely inside the top 125 – Joe Durant (120), Woody Austin (123) and Michael Allen (124) – missed the cut. Durant should be safe, but Austin and Allen are in danger of falling out.

Not only can Stroud rest easy, he can challenge for a victory.

“I’m safe now,” Stroud said. “To be honest, in my position, I was still quite a bit nervous coming into this week. I told my wife, I said, ‘I’m still playing like I’m 135 on the money list.’”

There also was a scintillating subplot surfacing.

The $1 million Kodak Challenge is all even after Rickie Fowler birdied No. 17 on the Magnolia course to pull into a tie with Troy Merritt and Aaron Baddeley. The contest designates a hole at 30 tournaments and keeps score throughout the year.

“I think we’ll have a lot of fun on the weekend with it,” said Fowler, tied for 11th at 8 under after a 70.

For everyone else, they’re merely trying to catch a player who has everything at stake.

One of the longest of long shots at the season finale, Thatcher already signed up for the second stage of qualifying school near Houston next week. All Disney was supposed to provide was some momentum.

Now it might be a Tour card.

Thatcher, whose only top-10 finish this year came in New Orleans, has never had a 36-hole lead on Tour and his best ever was a 61 at Mayakoba in 2008. But he still has a ways to go to complete the dream weekend.

Even if he tied for second, he’d be about $40,000 short of earning full status.

“I don’t think it was unreasonable for me to walk into the week and say I just want to catch something better for next week,” Thatcher said. “I think that was a realistic goal, getting four rounds in and getting some things working in the right direction to where when I tee it up next week at second stage, I was going to be as prepared as I was going to be.

“My goals have changed quite a bit,” he continued. “I’m hoping to have a nice long off season and start the year early next year.”

Tiger Woods during the third round of the Australian Masters.

MELBOURNE, Australia – Adam Bland has played in only one major and two other PGA Tour events. He was 75th on the Nationwide Tour money list and is headed to California on Sunday night for the second stage of Q-school.

First up is a chance to win the Australian Masters, where he is 10 shots ahead of Tiger Woods.

Kieran Pratt is a 22-year-old from Melbourne who turned pro only eight days ago and could not have asked for a better start to his career. He received an exemption to the Australian Masters, saw Woods in person for the first time and wound up paired with the defending champion in the third round Saturday.

“I was in a bit of shock,” Pratt said. “I saw him walking to the range on day one, and it’s just unreal seeing him. I’ve seen him so much on TV, and there he was. He’s got such an aura about him.”

Pratt was in such awe that he shot a 70, topping Woods by one shot at Victoria Golf Club, although both are out of contention.

Woods still has a mystique about him – at least before he tees off.

In what has become a lost year for Woods, he missed three putts inside 5 feet on his opening six holes, had to rally over the last 10 holes to get back to par for the day and found himself in a position that has become all too familiar.

Woods will tee off in the final round before the leaders even start warming up.

He shot a 71 Saturday and this will be the ninth time in 13 tournaments this year that Woods has been behind by at least 10 shots going into the final round. That doesn’t include the Quail Hollow Championship, where he missed the cut.

Going into this season, Woods had not finished more than 10 shots behind the winner since The Players Championship in 2007.

No longer No. 1 in the world, and likely to fall even farther behind Lee Westwood, Woods walked off Victoria in a steady rain, resigned that he will go an entire year without winning for the first time.

“Unfortunately, I’m so far back that I’ve got to play a great round, and then I need help,” he said.

He can blame that mostly on his putter.

Woods had a 5-foot birdie chance that never hit the hole on No. 1, a par 4 that measures only 257 yards. On four of the next five holes, his approach came up at least 60 feet short of the pin, and he three-putted two of those to make bogey.

“Again, I struggled with the pace of the greens,” Woods said. “I left countless putts short, and got off to a bad start the first couple of holes, blocked two short putts. Consequently, I didn’t get anything going.”

The weather didn’t help, although all 62 players who made the cut had to play in it.

It sure didn’t bother Bland, a left-hander who has been working on a better attitude after going into a funk the second part of his Nationwide Tour season. With only a one-shot lead, Bland took a risk by hitting driver on the short par-4 15th, threading the bunkers and onto the green for a two-putt birdie.

He gave himself another eagle chance on the par-5 18th for another simple birdie, wound up with a 70 and was at 11-under 202. Bland was only looking for confidence to take to the second stage of Q-school at Bayonet and Black Horse, two public courses just north of Pebble Beach where qualifying takes place. He might wind up with a gold jacket for winning the Australian Masters.

He was three shots ahead of Daniel Gaunt, who was working in a golf store this spring as Woods was preparing to end his five-month break from golf and return to the more famous Masters. Gaunt shot a 68.

Andre Stolz, tied for the lead after eight holes, fell back to a 72 and was four shots behind.

Woods feels as though he is getting closer with a swing change under Sean Foley, and he is stringing together more good shots. He attributed the distance control early in his round to the weather – cold, wind, rain – that had him hitting a 5-iron that went just 165 yards, only a day after hitting 9-iron from 200 yards on the fast turf of the sandbelt.

This is the fourth time Woods has changed his swing, and inevitably the short game tends to suffer.

“I work on my swing so much that I don’t have as much time for chipping and putting,” Woods said. “Ironically enough, I worked on my short game a lot coming in here at home. But for the last week or so, I’ve grinded really hard. Unfortunately, I haven’t made enough putts.”

That was the case last week in China. It’s been the case at Victoria.

It’s been that way all year.

Woods wasn’t alone in his struggles. Sergio Garcia, coming off a 65 in the second round, cautioned those ready to herald that he was on his way back that his game remained inconsistent, and he could just as easily shoot 75 the next day.

Garcia almost called it. He shot a 77 to fall out of contention.

Paul Stankowski (file photo)

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – “Orlando bound … second alternate. Hoping a few of the senior tour guys in the field decide to go get their PSA checked or something like that” @PaulStankowski, Nov. 8

Beneath the fine layer of humor are the words of a desperate man. Such is life when your only ticket to the big tour is past-champion status. Stankowski enters the Children’s Miracle Network Classic at No. 142 on the money list, wishing he can vault into the top 125 for full exempt status in 2011, hoping he can hang on to limited status in the Nos. 126-150 category, and praying he wouldn’t be left standing on the sidelines when the tournament begins on Thursday.

Stankowski got in on Tuesday and followed up with this tweet: “I’ve got a job for the week! Thankful for the opportunity to play in the final event of the season. Top 125 is reachable.”

Stankowski, 40, finds himself on the outside looking in when it comes to full-time Tour status. Perhaps no one embodies what is at stake this week quite like Stankowski among those trying to secure playing privileges next year at the final Tour event of the season.

“You have no idea, but I’ll let you know,” Stankowski told me after completing his final round last month at the McGladrey Classic. “I don’t know when I’m playing. I’m second alternate (for the Frys.Com Open). I have a 6:30 p.m. flight in Jacksonville through Dallas to San Jose. I get in at 10:30 p.m. I have an 8:40 a.m. tee time at a golf course I haven’t played since 1991 for a four-spot in Monday Qualifying (Note: he got in and earned $63,000 for finishing T-18).

“I have two kids who never know when daddy is coming home. I can’t plan a schedule. I was supposed to go to the Texas Rangers playoff game last night but then I got a sponsor invite I couldn’t turn down. My wife had to take my son. My entire life is up in the air. It’s not easy mentally.”

That’s one of several wild scenarios Stankowski has endured. In April, there was a seven-hour, five-state trip between two tours after beginning the week as a long-shot alternate into the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Stankowski took the red eye from San Francisco home to Dallas, spent Monday doing laundry and packing, then flew to Tallahassee, Fla., and drove to Valdosta on Tuesday for the Nationwide Tour’s South Georgia Classic. Got all that? When he woke up the next morning, Stankowski had a voicemail message informing him he was in the field in New Orleans. Two pit stops and 467 miles later, Stankowski arrived in the Big Easy. Chalk it up as just another day in the itinerant life of a journeyman pro.

Said Stankowski: “I’m that guy on the other side of the fence peeking over and saying, ‘Pick me. I want to play.’ ”

He’s playing this week. Stankowski has one last chance to make sure 2011 isn’t spent bouncing between tours in purgatory again. Now it’s all up to him. 

Azahara Munoz

GUADALAJARA, Mexico – On Tuesday at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational, I offered a simple congratulations to Azahara Munoz as she made the turn during a practice round with veterans Juli Inkster and Pat Hurst (who are almost joined at the hip out here). A few moments later Inkster, who must have asked someone what in the world I was talking about, turned around and said, “I just played nine holes with the Rookie of the Year and didn’t know it!” 

Munoz blew away the competition so completely that she wrapped up the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year award last week in Japan. Her 313-point lead over Amanda Blumenherst was insurmountable. Munoz had two top-10 finishes and 10 additional top 25s.

“I never really set goals, but when all the media started asking me I thought, well I guess that can be my one goal,” Munoz said. “It’s nice because you can only win it one year.”

Munoz is playing in her sixth consecutive event this week in Mexico, and she has learned her lesson. Six is too many.

“I hit the wall in Korea and by Japan I was done,” she said. The only thing keeping her motivated for the finish is the thought that she can return home to Spain in a few days to rest before the Tour Championship.

At the start of the season, the Arizona State grad said her irons “were awesome.” She’s been struggling with her long game of late, but managed to open with a 2-under 70 in Guadalajara. 

Not surprisingly, Munoz is quite popular here in Mexico, though she has found the request to autograph fans’ arms to be rather bizarre. Not exactly a lasting memento from the year’s best rookie.

Roland Thatcher during the second round of the Children’s Miracle Network Classic.

Images from Round 2 of the Children’s Miracle Network Classic at Disney.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The guy with the roman numerals after his name is trying to write a Cinderella story that would make Walt Disney – or at least Carl Spackler – proud.

Roland Churchill Thatcher IV, who entered the week No. 179 on the PGA Tour money list and staring at a date with the second stage of Qualifying School next week, is the surprise second-round leader of the Children’s Miracle Network Classic.

Thatcher grew up living off the fifth hole at TPC Woodlands, which might lead one to believe he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. A reporter deigned to ask what a guy with roman numerals in his name was doing worrying about the money list. “Shouldn’t you be running a family business?” he asked.

“We come from a long line of auto workers and Navy families,” Roland the IV answered. “My father was a retired airline pilot. I might have an in as a baggage handler at Southwest if I had to. But no, the name as pretentious as it is, my wife and I decided to stop that right there. We didn’t pass that one on to my son.”

While many in the field are feeling pressure to preserve their playing privileges for next season, Thatcher had all but accepted his fate. When he met his pro-am partner, he told him that he was just hoping to gain some momentum heading into Q-School. After all, to move into the top 125 and avoid Q-School, he would need to finish at least solo second (he has only one top-10 finish all year). But after taking just 24 putts in the second round to grab a three-shot lead, he said the goal has changed.

“I’m hoping to have a nice long off season and start the year early next year,” he said, implying that no Q-School and a spot in the 2011 winners-only Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Hawaii are now within reach.

That would cap off a magical week at the Magic Kingdom. Thatcher has never won on Tour. But he can dream. After all, this is supposed to be the happiest place on earth, where they say dreams come true.

Said Thatcher: “Pun intended, I wouldn’t mind being referred to as Cinderella for the week.”

Francesco Molinari celebrates on the 18th green after winning the WGC-HSBC Champions.

SHANGHAI — The PGA Tour continues to shortchange the one World Golf Championship held outside the United States by only offering a three-year exemption to the winner if he is a member of the American-based tour.

One person who didn’t seem the least bit bothered was Francesco Molinari, who won the HSBC Champions.

“I’m a European Tour member,” Molinari said with a shrug. “I’m proud to be a European Tour golfer, and it’s a great moment for European golf, and I’m really happy to give my contribution to that. Honestly, going to the States, it’s not really part of my plans at the moment. I’m happy to consider it a European Tour win.”

At the trophy presentation in near darkness on the 18th green at Sheshan International, with Chinese drummers adding a unique touch to the ceremony, Molinari was announced as the winner of a $1.2 million check.

That translates to just over 850,000 euros, enough to move him to No. 4 in the Race to Dubai, giving him an outside chance depending on how he fares this week in Singapore.

It used to be that beating the best field in golf, whether it was a major or a World Golf Championship, was essentially a free pass to the PGA Tour. Now it’s a matter of whether Europeans want to go, much less need to.

Lee Westwood, the new No. 1 in the world ranking, tried a full PGA Tour schedule about five years ago and it didn’t work for him. He added tournaments just to meet the minimum requirement of 15 events, and found himself going through the motions at times. Westwood played Las Vegas in 2005 to meet his number.

“That’s why I don’t join anymore,” Westwood said.

Rory McIlroy joined him Monday evening, telling British newspapers that the FedEx Cup has cramped his schedule and he would not join the PGA Tour for next year.

PGA champion Martin Kaymer, eligible for a five-year exemption by winning a major, is said to be leaning against PGA Tour membership, even though his girlfriend is from Arizona and the German spent much of his time there before he became a veritable star.

The way this year has gone for Europe, its players can find plenty of competition at home.

Europeans did so well on the PGA Tour this year, with seven players winning eight times, that British agent Chubby Chandler quipped midway through the season that the Tournament of Champions in Kapalua “is going to be like a European Tour event.”

One benefit for Europe when it began its “Race to Dubai” bonus program was attracting international stars, and it got the interest of Geoff Ogilvy, Anthony Kim, Camilo Villegas, Rory Sabbatini and several others. It was easy to meet the minimum of 12 tournaments because seven could be knocked through majors and WGCs before the Dubai World Championship.

Last month, however, the European Tour tournament committee decided to increase the minimum to 13 events. In a separate matter, it denied Kim a medical exemption despite the American missing three months after surgery on his thumb.

To some, the increase was seen as Europe closing its door to outsiders. For others, it was good business. Europe needs its members to play more at home to accommodate sponsors in a tough economy.

David Howell, who is on the committee but made it clear he was not speaking on behalf of it, wondered whether Europe needed U.S. tour members to make its circuit stronger.

For every rising star on the PGA Tour — Dustin Johnson, Hunter Mahan, Jason Day, Rickie Fowler or Kim — Europe has just as many in Kaymer, Rory McIlroy, Alvaro Quiros, the Molinari brothers (Francesco and Edoardo) and Matteo Manassero, the 17-year-old Italian who two weeks ago became Europe’s youngest winner.

Molinari is eligible for Kapalua, but not PGA Tour membership. He cannot even apply the money toward a tour card through nonmember earnings if they were equal to No. 125 on the money list.

A big reason for the PGA Tour not treating the HSBC Champions equal to the other WGCs is that less than half of the 78-man field has tour membership. At the other stroke-play WGCs in America, PGA Tour members accounted for at least two-thirds of the field.

“I can understand if we weren’t playing a strong field,” Ben Crane said. “But I think if you can win a tournament like this — whoever you are — it doesn’t matter. You’ve done something pretty special. I think this should count for everything.”

Molinari turned in one of the best performances of the year. Playing in the final group the last two days, he matched the low round Saturday and Sunday with a 5-under 67. Molinari beat Westwood by one shot, and he beat everyone else by at least 10.

Europe swept the top five spots at Sheshan International, and 11 of the top 12 on the leaderboard were European Tour members. The exception was Tiger Woods.

PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem did not sound interested in counting this WGC like the others, from a three-year exemption to the winner to the money being official. He cited the HSBC Champions being too late in the PGA Tour season, and there’s merit to that. Europe still has three events remaining, ending with its version of a Tour Championship.

“To add an event that late in the year at the end of the season is just not something we’re prepared to do on the money list,” Finchem said after the ceremony. “On the other side of the coin, I’m not sure it makes any difference. Our theory was players would come and support the event because it has a great purse, a lot of world ranking points. And that’s been the case.

“I don’t think changing it will change the field.”

It makes no difference to Molinari. He won a World Golf Championship against a strong field. He did something special in what has become an extraordinary year for European golf.

Cristie Kerr put up a tournament-record 64 in the first round of the Lorena Ochoa Invitational.

GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Cristie Kerr shot a tournament-record 8-under 64 on Thursday to take a three-stroke lead over Stacy Lewis in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational, while Ochoa opened with a 74 on her home course in her first LPGA Tour start since retiring in April.

The third-ranked Kerr birdied nine of the first 15 holes at Guadalajara Country Club, but dropped a stroke on the par-3 17th. She won the LPGA State Farm Classic and LPGA Championship in consecutive starts in June.

“I felt really good out there,” Kerr said. “I was there every shot. I want to do the small things well and take it day by day. I won today for myself, and I’ll go out there tomorrow with the same amount of confidence.

“When you’re swinging well, you have good confidence and a I had lot of good yardages into the hole today,” Kerr said. “So, I had good control of my ball, and if I have good control of my ball, then I can still be aggressive. Every day’s different.”

Japanese star Ai Miyazato. U.S. Women’s Open champion Paula Creamer, South Korea’s Na Yeon Choi and Australia’s Katherine Hull shot 68s, and South Koreans Hee Young Park and In-Kyung Kim had 69s.

Michelle Wie, the winner last year for her first LPGA Tour title, withdrew after the round because of a back injury. She shot a 78.

“I was very excited to be here, but unfortunately I can’t play anymore,” Wie said. “I’m going to see the doctor tomorrow and hope to make it feel better. We took an MRI and I have two little cysts near my spine and a little disc bulge. It’s nothing major but it’s just something I can’t play with right now.”

Ochoa closed with her second double bogey of the round.

“It’s good to be back,” Ochoa said. “It would be better if I had a better round today. Especially the end of the day was a tough one because I tried really hard to stay around par and just finish really good. But nothing I can do now.”

Her husband, Aeromexico CEO Andres Conesa, caddied for her.

“He did pretty good,” Ochoa said. “I was very impressed. But I know talking to him he did a good job. He was taking care of his duties.”

The course sits more than a mile above sea level, making club selection difficult in the thin air.

“It’s actually really hard,” Lewis said. “I’m still kind of adjusting. I think it’s somewhere between 5 and 10 percent depending on how long the shot is and how long it’s in the air and things like that. But I had some shots today that just went crazy far for me. So I’m still trying to adjust.”

Yani Tseng, 14 points ahead of second-place Miyazato in the player of the year race, struggled to a 76. Top-ranked Jiyai Shin, skipping the tournament, and Choi are tied for third, 18 points behind Tseng. Kerr is fifth, 22 points behind Tseng.

“This tournament is definitely key. We have 35, 36 of the best players in the world here, and everybody’s playing well,” Kerr said. “So for me to try and accomplish the goals that I have of player of the year and so on, I have to keep doing what I did today.”

Paula Creamer

GUADALAJARA, Mexico – U.S. Women’s Open champion Paula Creamer shot a 6-under 66 on Friday to take a one-stroke lead over Norway’s Suzann Pettersen in the Lorena Ochoa Invitational.

Creamer birdied two of the final three holes to reach 10 under on the Guadalajara Country Club course.

“I’m pleased with the way I’m hitting the ball, and I’m putting very well,” Creamer said. “Consistently, I’m rolling the putts the way that I want to, and that’s all I can ask for is to give myself as many opportunities as I can.”

Creamer finished second last year, two strokes behind Michelle Wie.

“I really like coming here,” Creamer said. “I enjoy the golf course. It sets up very well for my game. It’s not the longest golf course that we play all year, but you have to hit a lot of fairways and you have to be very precise with your irons and that kind of suits my game. But coming in second last year, I definitely wanted to come back and give myself a good chance to win.”

Wie withdrew Thursday because of a back injury after an opening 78.

Ochoa followed her first-round 74 with a 71 on her home course, leaving her 26th at 1 over in her first LPGA Tour event since retiring in April.

“I’m not going to say that I don’t have chances anymore,” Ochoa said. “But I guess right now, it’s out of my hands what the other players do. I’m going to try to get here tomorrow, probably going to play early again and shoot a low round.”

First-round leader Cristie Kerr was tied for 14th at 4 under. After opening with a tournament-record 64, the third-ranked American shot a 76 in the second round. She had two back-nine double bogeys.

Pettersen had a 65, matching Meena Lee for the best round of the day in the 35-player field.

Pettersen played the back nine in 6-under 30, birdieing Nos. 10, 11, 13, 14, 15 and 18.

“I gave myself some really good chances and made some good putts,” Pettersen said. “Finally I’m getting the ball in the hole. So obviously that’s going to help the scorecard.”

She has 10 top-five finishes this year, but is winless.

“It’s been a great year for me,” Pettersen said. “I’ve been very consistent, which is what I’m looking for. Obviously, I would like to have some top finishes, but at the same time, being there week in, week out, it shows you that your game is really good. It’s just a matter of time before I can eventually get it all together and wrap it up.”

Stacy Lewis (69) was third at 8 under. The former University of Arkansas star bogeyed the 18th hole to end her bogey-free streak at 78 holes – the longest run on the tour this year.

“Playing with Cristie today, I kind of saw how this golf course can jump up and bite you a little bit,” Lewis said. “So you have to play a little bit conservative, but also when you get opportunities, go make some birdies.”

Lewis will play in a group with Creamer and Pettersen on Saturday.

“I like being the underdog,” Lewis said. “I like not having the spotlight on me because people don’t expect me to win. I like that position and I’ll ride it all the way to the end.”

Lee was 7 under along with Ai Miyazato (69), Azahara Munoz (67), Karine Icher (70), In-Kyung Kim (68) and Katherine Hull (69).