Delasin cards 68, trails by 4 strokes

LPGA Rookie of the Year Dorothy Delasin stayed on course for a crack at the second LPGA Tour crown as she shot a 68 Friday and remained four strokes behind two-day leader Jen Hanna, who also had a 68 halfway through the $750,000 Welch’s/Circle K Championship in Tuczon, Arizona.

Three birdies at the frontside of the Randolf Park Golf Course, the backside of her game, spiked Delasin’s four-under card of 32-36 as the Fil-Am shotmaker, who opened her bid here with a 67, pooled a 135 to remain in joint sixth, four behind Hanna.

The 24-year-old American birdied three of the last six holes for that 68, another bogey-free round like her opening 63, as she kept her two-shot lead over defending champion Annika Sorenstam intact with a 131.

Sorenstam also had a 68 for a 133 while Lorie Kane, Brandie Burton and Dottie Pepper all shot 67s to be at 134.

Delasin, who scored a breakthrough win in the Giant Eagle Classic last July and went on to become the tour’s top rookie, went to work early and gunned down back-to-back birdies from No. 13. But she missed the green on the par-3 No. 15 and failed to rescue a par but the 20-year-old Daly City-based bet fought back with birdies on Nos. 1 and 3 before holing out with another birdie on No. 9.

After a 68, Jennifer Rosales slowed down with a 70, a two-under card she assembled by sinking three on the last six holes the way Hanna did although the 22-year-old Filipina slid down from 10th to a share of 19th place at 138.

It was one of the rare times that Delasin and Rosales, former teammates in at least three national teams, both made the cut in the LPGA Tour and were in contention heading into the weekend play of the event serving as the ninth leg of this year’s circuit.