Stanford soars to the top

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Angela Stanford has a one-shot cushion going into the third round of the LPGA’s Lotte Championship in Hawaii.

The American carded a superb eight-under-par 64 that saw her rocket up the leaderboard.

After carding an even par 72 which left her four shots off the pace in the first round, Stanford looked unstoppable on the wind-swept course and holed eight birdies without dropping a shot.

“Finally, I got comfortable on these greens and it felt great,” revealed the 36-year-old, who sank five birdies in a row on the front nine.

“I mean, to see the ball go in that much is a lot of fun. It was nice to see. I needed a round like that.”

“I think it’s more about putting. I hate to admit this, but I don’t always control my trajectory on purpose. It just kind of happens. When I get into the wind, and I’ve talked about this with my instructor, for some reason my body just starts moving into the ball more and I tend to keep it lower.”

Hawaii local Michelle Wie is one shot back after a 67 that included five birdies. The 24-year-old reflects on her birdie putt on the par five 13th.

“That putt was really, really, really fast. It was downwind, down grain, downhill and I just barely touched it and I think the crowd rolled that one in for sure,” said Wie.

“I thought it lipped out for sure, and it just kind of went around then, and so it was awesome.”

Meanwhile, 16-time tour winner Christie Kerr carded a 66 and is among a group of four that are tie for third on six under. World number one Inbee Park shot a 68 to join the group.

Day one leader, Se Ri Pak bogeyed the ninth and carded a one under 71 to leave her on five under for the tournament.

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