Jeong, Welch Tied Heading Into Final Round Of Season-Ending Event

ALBANY, N.Y., Sept. 8, 2007 – With one round remaining in the 2007 season and stress levels mounting for players chasing the five LPGA Tour cards, defending champion Ji Min Jeong and long-hitting Kim Welch moved into a share of the lead in the $100,000 ILOVENY Championship.

Welch fired a five-under-par second-round score of 66, while Jeong, who has won once this year, carded a two-under 69 to move into a tie for first at 136 (-6) at Capital Hills at Albany.

“On this course, you need to hit good iron shots and a lot of greens, and I did that today,” said Jeong of Kyungki, Korea, who hit 14 greens in regulation and used 29 putts. “I have confidence that my game is really good right now, but I’m not going to think about winning. I just have to play.”

Today’s second round of the fourth annual tournament at Capital Hills featured oppressive humidity that built into an afternoon thunderstorm. Play was suspended for lightning at 4:12 p.m., but 22 minutes later, players were back on the course, running from the next line of storms that began moving in by early evening. The last three groups of players literally hit their tee shots on the 18th tee and ran toward the green. Just as the last groups had signed their scorecards, another storm moved in, sending players and volunteers running for shelter.

But Welch, ranked No. 27 and not feeling the same pressure as many, fired at pins on the hilly 6,120-yard course and played as if she had nothing to lose.

“I’m not involved at all in the pressure of this week,” said Welch of Sacramento, who has posted four top-10 finishes this season and is still seeking her first win. “Good for them, but I don’t care about the top six battling it out. I want to win and it will be just fine if it’s at the last tournament of the year.”

Using her prodigious length, Welch said she hit nothing more than a 9-iron into any of the par-four holes. And for the second day, her putting held up on the course’s firm greens, rendering 26 putts, eight birdies and three bogeys.

“It’s such an advantage to come into these greens with shorter irons,” said Welch.

The two leaders are chased by Onnarin (Moo) Sattayabanphot (67) of Bangkok, Thailand and two-time 2007 season winner Taylor Leon (68) of Dallas, who are tied at 138 (-4).

The Thai player, who lost a two-hole playoff to Emily Bastel earlier this year in Decatur, Ill., hit 16 greens in regulation and attacked the golf course. She carded seven birdies and three bogeys and felt as if she had won the battle of the rough.

“I kept my ball in the fairway today and that’s key for this golf course,” said Sattayabanphot, who played collegiately at Purdue University. “Birdies are a bonus.”

Only one shot back is Vikki Laing, winner of the Tour’s last event (in Gettysburg, Pa.), who fired a six-under-par second round of 65 to move within three shots of the lead alongside Danah Ford (73) of Indianapolis. Both are tied at 139 (-3).

“I’m just trying to go as low as I can, but the first round didn’t help,” said Laing of Musselburgh, Scotland, who carded a 74 (+3) on Friday. “My swing felt a little off in the first round and I know I have to go low again on Sunday if I’m going to have a shot at getting my [2008 LPGA] card.”

Currently ranked eighth, Laing admitted to feeling the mounting pressure in the final week.

“Yeah, I think you feel it,” she said. “Everybody does. But then again, that’s why I play the game – to feel the things you feel when you really want to win.”

Top-ranked Emily Bastel of Upper Sandusky, Ohio carded her second consecutive round of one-over-par 72 and moved into a tie for 18th at 144 (+2). But while she has wrestled with her putting this week, Bastel says the previous 18 weeks of play have given her enough time to think about her position on the money list, eliminating a lot of the worry about this week’s finale.

“I’ve had a few weeks to deal with my emotions and not get caught up in the hoopla,” said Bastel, a two-time winner this season, who as been at the top of the Tour’s money list for most of the year. “But yes, this week is a really big deal.”

It has seemingly been a stressful week for sixth-ranked Liz Janangelo (74) of West Hartford, Conn., who is trying to climb back into the top five. The former four-time All-American at Duke University is tied for 36th at 147 (+5) and was blunt about today’s performance. She hit only nine greens and eight fairways, but countered with 29 putts and two saves from bunkers.

“I hit it terrible today,” said Janangelo, a two-time winner this year with nine top-10 finishes. “But to shoot what I did was good, considering how I hit it.”

The second-year pro shrugged when asked if the pressure of trying to climb back into the top five was in her mind.

“I don’t know if I’m not playing well because I’m feeling the pressure,” said Janangelo, who still holds the women’s NCAA low-scoring record of 62. “I’m just going to go out there tomorrow and go really, really low. Any number is possible.”

Any number was also possible for Dana Lacey of Perth, W. Australia, who carded a second-round 68 to move into a tie for 18th at 144 (+2) after recording nine birdies, four bogeys and a double-bogey in her round. Lacey didn’t have a par until her 11th hole and even then, she was one under.

“It was insane today and I’ve laughed so hard that I’m giddy,” said the Aussie. “I was just trying to have some fun for a change and this was absolutely my strangest round ever.”

And maybe that’s a good thing during a stressful week.

Seventy players made the 36-hole cut at 150 (+8).

The final round of this week’s 54-hole event will began Sunday at 7:30 a.m., off the first and 10th tees. The leaders will tee off at 9:09 p.m.

For scores and more information, visit www.duramedfuturestour.com.

Weather: Partly cloudy and humid. High temperature of 85 degrees with winds around 13 mph in the morning. Thunderstorms in the afternoon, suspending play at 4:12 p.m., and resuming at 4:34 p.m.

Contact: Lisa D. Mickey, Duramed FUTURES Tour at (518) 438-1431 and at lisa@duramedfuturestour.com.