Morgan's straight shots open up four-stroke lead

Grace Park, Young-A Yang and Amy Hung are tied for second place.
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. (AP) -- Becky Morgan spent another day in the fairway and turned it into a four-stroke lead halfway through the Sybase Classic.
The 29-year-old native of Wales had her usual driving accuracy Friday in a 7-under 64 that gave her an 11-under 131 total, four shots in front of Grace Park, Young-A Yang and Amy Hung.
"I've always been a straight hitter and I'm trying to get more distance, but being in the fairway is more important than another 10 yards," Morgan said.
Morgan led the LPGA Tour in driving accuracy last year at 83.4 percent and she is second this year in that statistic, improving to 85.5 percent.
Distance is another matter for the 5-foot-2 graduate of North Carolina-Greensboro. She was 126th last year at 242.7 yards, a number she has boosted this year to 244.4 yards, but that's just 122nd on tour.
The 64 at the 6,161-yard Wykagyl Country Club was one shot off her career low and one shot off Gloria Park's course record set in the third round in 2002.
The 131 was one stroke shy of the tournament 36-hole record set by Juli Inkster in 1992. Betsy King had a 9-under 63 and 14-under 130 in the inaugural tournament in 1990, when the course played to a par of 72.
Near the top
Morgan had a second and a third among seven top-10 finishes last year and she was second three weeks ago at the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship at Atlanta.
"Last year was such a confidence boost," Morgan said. "Atlanta was a good experience for me and it should be good a start for the weekend."
Yang, the only one of the three first-round co-leaders to stay in contention, was within one stroke of the lead until she had a triple-bogey 7 on her last hole for a 69 that left her tied with Grace Park, who had a 66, and Hung, who had a 67.
"It's always bad to finish bad but I still have two more days," said Yang, who drove into the water on the par-4 9th and then hit a chip thin that sailed across the green.
So far
Yang has made just two of seven cuts this year and her best finish was a tie for 71st at the tournament where Morgan finished second.
Sherri Steinhauer, the 1999 champion here, had a 70 and was at 137.
"The past two days my game was very similar," said Grace Park, who is second to Annika Sorenstam on the money list. "I was hitting really good tee shots. My irons were pretty bad, but my putting and short game are probably the best it's been in a long time."
Sylvia Cavalleri and Nadina Taylor were tied with Yang for the lead after the first round. Cavalleri followed her opening 66 with a 72, while Taylor had a second-round 75.