Even as she climbed into the lead in the second round of

Even as she climbed into the lead in the second round of the U.S. Women’s Open on Friday, Suzann Pettersen took some time to admire Michelle Wie’s big move into contention.

Pettersen, the Norwegian star ranked sixth in the world, shot a 4-under 68 at Blackwolf Run on Friday and moved to 5 under 139 for the tournament in Kohler, Wis. But Wie, the recent Stanford grad, was even better on the day, carding a 6-under 66 to move to 4 under and put herself in position to break out of a season-long slump.

Wie was tied with Cristie Kerr, the 2007 Open winner, one stroke off the lead.

Pettersen was playing in the group directly behind Wie, giving her a pretty good view of what turned out to be an impressive display of accurate approach shots and made putts.

Wie said she doesn’t spend much time thinking about the attention she received as a high-profile child prodigy in the early 2000s, or whether fans had written her off since then.

Wie has missed six of eight cuts this season, although she says she has been feeling better about her game.

“The last couple of weeks it started to feel good,” Wie said. “Things were coming. My scores weren’t showing up as well. But it’s a work in progress. Still a long way to go.”

Source APP