LPGA 17-year-old Song captures share of lead in Chik-fil-A

Lorie Kane is tied for the lead at 9-under.
STOCKBRIDGE, Ga. (AP) -- On her last day as a 17-year-old, Aree Song hardly played like a teenager.
Then again, she's never really acted her age.
Song surged into position to become the youngest winner ever on the LPGA Tour, shooting a 6-under 66 Friday for a share of the lead at the midway point of the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship.
Song was tied with Lorie Kane, who made birdies on three of her last five holes in a 68, at 9-under 135 after two rounds.
While 14-year-old Michelle Wie is usually billed as the future of women's golf, Song is clearly the more accomplished player at this point.
And maybe this is a telling sign: Song's biography in the LPGA media guide is right alongside Annika Sorenstam's.
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"It all starts on the inside," Song said. "I really think my game is good enough to win. It's just a matter of getting experience, getting used to everything that goes along with the golf."
Adjusting just fine
The rookie seems to be adjusting just fine to life as a pro. A six-birdie, no-bogey round was hardly out of character.
The South Korea native first played in a major tournament as a 13-year-old amateur, tying for 10th at the Kraft Nabisco Championship. Last year, she was fifth at the U.S. Women's Open. After getting an age exemption from the LPGA, Song turned professional and just missed winning the first major of the year, making a gutsy eagle on the final hole of the Nabisco but losing to Grace Park by a stroke.
If Song can hold on through the weekend, she would become the youngest winner of an LPGA event.
Sorenstam was in solid position to go for her third LPGA win of the year, five shots behind the co-leaders after rallying for a 69.
She birdied two of the last three holes to make up for a double bogey at the par-3 4th, where her tee shot landed about 20 feet from the flag but skidded into a creek.
"I'm playing really, really good," Sorenstam said. "I think that's about the highest I could have scored. I'm just waiting for some good momentum and a few putts to drop."
Kane took a leisurely approach to her round, eyeing the luxurious homes that line the Eagles Landing Country Club course south of Atlanta.
Another member of the LPGA's youth movement, 21-year-old Natalie Gulbis, shot a 66 and was tied for third with Park at 136.
Gulbis, a third-year pro who has never finished higher than fifth, credited a new driver with improving her game.
"I was missing quite a few fairways early in the season," she said. "I've started to hit the fairway. It's a little easier to attack the pins, instead of before where I was just trying to get out of trouble."