NEWPORT, R.I., July 1, 2006 -- Kristina Tucker of Stockholm, Sweden is the only member of the Duramed FUTURES Tour to survive today's cut at the 61^st U.S. Women's Open Championship.

Tucker is deadlocked in a six-way tie at four-over-par 146, with rounds of 72-74 on the soggy Newport Country Club course. Playing collegiately at Duke University as Kristina Engstrom, Tucker is tied after two rounds with LPGA Tour members Sherri Turner, Tracy Hanson, Nancy Scranton, Rachel Hetherington and Jee Young Lee.

"The course is drying out a little bit, but it was windy today and it was still playing long," she said. "I'm happy with how I have played so far. Sunday will be a really long day."

Tucker started on the back nine today and got off to a slow start with bogeys on the 13^th, 17^th and 18^th holes, with her only birdie on No. 14.  She made the turn and birdied No. 1 (her 10^th hole) from 10 feet and then birdied the second hole from eight feet. But Tucker suffered a quadruple-bogey on the third hole when she missed the green, and then went from bunker to bunker. The Swede rallied with a birdie on the sixth, then rolled in a long par-saving putt on the ninth hole.

"I made a downhill 25-foot slider on my last hole and there was a big roar from the gallery," she said. "I've never heard anything like that before."

Tucker will begin her third round at 7:03 a.m. Sunday with Hetherington and Scranton. The final round will begin as soon as all contestants have completed the third round. Thursday's first round was suspended due to heavy fog.

Other Duramed FUTURES Tour players at the Open who missed the cut are as follows:

Sarah-Jane Kenyon of Queensland, Australia, 77-74-151 (+9); Charlotte Mayorkas of Las Vegas, 77-75-152 (+10); May Wood of Signal Mountain, Tenn., 79-74-153 (+11); Kristen Samp of Mobley, Mo., 80-73-153 (+11); Kim Welch of Sacramento 73-80-153 (+11); Teresa Lu of Taipei, Taiwan, 80-74-154 (+12); Liz Janangelo of West Hartford, Conn., 78-76-154 (+12); Sarah Huarte of Shingle Springs, Calif., 75-80-155 (+13); Sophia Sheridan of Guadalajara, Mexico, 76-79-155 (+13); Marianne Morris of Middletown, Ohio, 75-80-155 (+13); Celeste Troche of Asuncion, Paraguay, 77-78-155 (+13); Beth Allen of San Diego, 79-77-156 (+14); Aimee Cho of Seoul, Korea, 78-78-156 (+14); Brandi Jackson of Greenville, S.C., 75-83-158 (+16); Cristina Baena of Pereira, Colombia, 79-84-163 (+21); Beth Bauer of Tampa, Fla., 79-85-164 (+22).

Tied for the overall lead of the 2006 U.S. Women's Open Championship at two-under-par 140 are two-time Open champ Annika Sorenstam, and Californian Pat Hurst.

Contact: Lisa D. Mickey, Duramed FUTURES Tour, at lisa@duramedfuturestour.com .