Rosales drops Daniel; Delasin heads for home

Jennifer Rosales finally settled down and bundled out veteran Beth Daniel, 5 and 3, in one of the day’s most lopsided victories posted in the second round of the Women’s Match Play Championship on Friday (Saturday in Manila) even as fancied Annika Sorenstam survived a scare with a 1-up victory over Tina Barrett over 19 holes at the Hamilton Farms Golf Club’s Highlands course in Newark, New Jersey.

The 21st-ranked Rosales, who had to unleash a strong finishing kick to thwart Angela Stanford’s upset bid in the first round, 1-up, won three straight holes from No. 6 and went on to dominate Daniel the rest of the way.

The Filipina shotmaker actually fumbled with a bogey on the par-5 No. 9 but recovered with another birdie on the other par-5 hole on the 11th before finishing off the 53rd ranked Daniel with her fifth birdie in the day on No. 15. In stroke play, Rosales had a three-under card after 15 holes.

She hopes to sustain that form when she takes on No. 60 Marisa Baena in the third round Saturday. Baena upset the 30th ranked Grace Park, 1-up, after 19 holes.

But while Rosales, 26, breezed through the next round of this $2 million event, former national teammate Dorothy Delasin got ambushed by unfancied AJ Eathorne, 1-up.

Sorenstam needed not one but three extra holes to subdue a stubborn Tina Barrett, 1-up, as the Swede ace set up a third round duel with Rachel Hetherington, the No. 48 player who shocked No. 16 Mi Hyun Kim of Korea.

In fact, Sorenstam needed to sink a 30-foot birdie on the 21st hole to beat 32nd-seeded Barrett.

Coming off a tie for 23rd-place last week in the US Women’s Open, Sorenstam overcame three two-hole deficits before taking her first lead with a conceded par on the par-3 17th. The Swede needed only to halve the par-4 18th to win, but bogeyed the hole — missing an 8-foot par try — to send the match back to No. 1.

"I had a lot of putts on the edges again," said Sorenstam, who also struggled Thursday on Hamilton Farm’s rain-softened greens in her 2-and-1 victory over Joanne Morley. "It wasn’t until that last putt, that I really had one go in."

Barrett, winless since taking the 1989 Ocean State Open in her first season on the US LPGA Tour, made pressure putts to extend the match on the first two extra holes - an 8-footer for par on the par-4 first and an 18-footer for birdie with Sorenstam only centimeters from the cup in three on the par-5 second. On the par-3 third, Barrett missed a 12-foot birdie try after Sorenstam holed her long birdie putt.

While Sorenstam avoided an upset, second-seeded Cristie Kerr and No. 4 Paula Creamer were eliminated. The top-seeded Sorenstam and No. 8 Candie Kung — both in the upper bracket — are the only players seeded 12 or higher to survive the first two rounds, and No. 14 Wendy Ward is the only one in the top 29 left in the lower bracket. (With AP report)