LPGA Tournament in Buena Park : Bradley, Rarick, Alcott Share Lead

Pat Bradley, whose golf is calm and dispassionate; Cindy Rarick, whose golf is a family matter, and Amy Alcott, whose golf is mixed in with a job as a bakery short-order cook, all found their way to the top of the leaderboard by the end of the second round of the LPGA’s $300,000 MBS tournament Friday at Los Coyotes Country Club in Buena Park.

The three players are at six-under-par 138.

First-round co-leader Lisa Walters was one shot back, along with Myra Blackwelder and tour rookie Pam Wright.

Dale Eggeling was at 140, and Beth Daniel and Marta Figueras-Dotti were at 141.

Bradley, who is feeling fit again this season after a debilitating hyperthyroid condition last season, is looking for her second victory of the season. She won the Centinela golf tournament at Rancho Park in April.

Bradley has shot consecutive rounds of three-under-par 69 for her share of the lead.

“After the second round, the lead doesn’t mean that much,” said Bradley, who has 23 wins in her career. “It means something when you are walking up the 18th (fairway) on Sunday.”

Bradley had a steady round in which she made four birdies and one bogey, taking 29 putts. She made birdie putts of 20 feet, seven feet, six feet and one foot.

“I’m pleased with the way I played,” Bradley said. “I would like to be hitting the ball closer to the hole. I am two-putting a lot for par, and there are birdies out there to be made.”

Alcott, who takes a diversion from golf by working as a short- order cook in a bakery in Los Angeles, had her game in good order. She also made four birdies against one bogey. She dropped birdie putts of 20 and five feet, and had two two-footers.

“I wasn’t hitting the ball particularly well coming into this tournament, but the more I play, the more I get into the groove,” she said.

Alcott injured her shoulder while playing in a tournament in Hawaii last March.

“When I hurt my shoulder it caused me to start not trusting my swing,” she said. “I had never had an injury before that.”

Alcott got her game going again in July and won the Boston Five tournament that month. Since then she has finished 10th, 16th, 37th and 18th.

Rarick, whose husband, Rick, is caddying for her and playing partner Beth Daniel, stirred their gallery with golf craftsmanship at its best.

Rarick, with precise approach shots and deft putting, ran down five birdies in a stretch of six holes on the back nine. She dropped putts of 20, 14, five and three feet, plus a one-footer.

Rarick had a double bogey on the par-five ninth hole after driving into a sand trap and getting caught in some trees. But two holes later, she started her birdie run. Rarick also had two birdies on the front nine, along with a bogey and the not-so aesthetic double bogey.

“Every time I play with Beth, we both play well,” Rarick said. “I was pleased with shooting a 68 with a double bogey.”

Daniel shot a 67 to go three under par for the tournament, after she’d opened with a 74 Thursday. Daniel had an eagle, five birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey.

Blackwelder, whose best finish was second place in 1980, when she was rookie of the year, also shot a 67, her best round of the year.

She earned $93,819 last year. She travels with her 4 1/2-year-old son, Miles, and her 3-year-old daughter, Mallory, and her husband Worth is a caddy on the tour for Juli Inkster.

“At this point in my career, when I get a chance to sleep, it makes a difference,” Blackwelder said. “I had 12 hours’ sleep the other night and came out (Thursday) feeling real good.

“This course demands patience. That’s my biggest problem. You can’t force anything on this course.”

Blackwelder, who has had back problems and likes playing in hot weather, has been comfortable in the 90-degree heat this week.

She made an adjustment in her putting stroke after the 14th hole, which put the ball closer to her front foot, and the result was four consecutive birdie putts of 20, five, 15 and 25 feet. After two birdies on the front side, on the second and seventh holes, she three-putted for her only bogey of the round.

Wright had six birdies, four of them on the back nine, against three bogeys.

Sherri Turner, the other first-round leader, came in with a 75 Friday, including a triple-bogey seven.

Turner was four shots off the lead at 142 with Nancy Lopez, who shot a 69.

Today’s third round will begin with 77 players after Friday’s cut at four-over-par 146.