Associated Press
Friday, July 14

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. -- Allison Finney, whose only LPGA Tour victory came in 1989 and whose best finish this year is a tie for 32nd, closed a 5-under 66 with a 30-foot birdie putt Friday to take a one-stroke lead over Annika Sorenstam after two rounds of the JAL Big Apple Classic.

	Sorenstam won the Big Apple title in 1998.

Finney, one of three players to share the first-round lead, had a 36-hole total of 9-under 133. The last of her six second-round birdies came in near darkness as play was delayed by a thunderstorm for 1 hour, 40 minutes.

Sorenstam, who has 22 tour wins, including four this year, finished her 65 just minutes before the siren sounded for the weather delay at Wykagyl Country Club.

Finney, who started on No. 10, was on her third hole when the storm hit.

"I was nervous going out and during the delay I talked with friends, relaxed and felt better," Finney said. "I started playing really steady. I hope it keeps up. The whole rain thing was a bonus."

After making the turn at 5-under with a birdie at the par-5 18th, she birdied Nos. 1 and 2 to give her three in a row. She also had a birdie on the par-3 seventh and then closed the round with the long birdie putt that drew high-fives from her playing partners.

Finney made the cut last week after missing four in a row and finished tied for 51st.

"Making the cut last week doesn't sound like much, but I was playing poorly," she said. "I was able to relax last weekend and get my rhythm."

Sorenstam called her timing with the delay "perfect."

"I signed my card and two minutes later the siren went off," she said. "It's always tough to deal with rain and thunder and suspended play and go in and sit and wait and then go back out."

Sorenstam won last week's Jamie Farr Kroger Classic to tie Karrie Webb for the tour lead for victories this year.

"Right now I have a ton of confidence and I'm putting well for me," Sorenstam said after matching her lowest round in this tournament, a third-round 65 in 1998 when she won it by setting records for margin of victory (8) and total (19-under).

She didn't need much help from the putter Friday. Only one of her five birdie putts was longer than 5 feet -- an 18-footer on the par-3 16th -- and her eagle came when she holed a shot from a greenside bunker on the par-5 15th.

"I bogeyed 14 and even though I felt I was playing well it was a sour note," said Sorenstam, who started play from the 10th tee. "I made that bunker shot and it got me going. We were near a leaderboard and I saw the eagle put me up there and I went from there."

The eagle put Sorenstam at 3-under. She birdied Nos. 16 and 18 to make the turn at 5-under, and then added birdies at Nos. 5, 6 and 8, all on putts inside 5 feet.

Rosie Jones, one of the first-round co-leaders, had a 68 and was alone in third at 135. Ashli Bunch had a 67 and was another two strokes back.

Jones, who was on her eighth hole when the storm hit, had all pars on her front nine and made three birdies on the back, including a 15-footer on the par-4 ninth.

"The delay didn't really affect me at all," said Jones, who finished second in the tournament in 1993 and third in 1990. "I didn't have a lot of adrenaline going, I was kind of parring along. I ate a little bit, hung out a little bit.

"You have to change your game, though. The greens were more receptive. They weren't dart boards but they were playing different."

Kim Williams, the other first-round leader, shot a 74 and was at 141.

Helen Alfredsson, who started on No. 10, was 5-under through No. 5 but finished with three bogeys and a double-bogey for a 72 that left her at 142, tied with Webb who had a second 71.

Juli Inkster, who is third on the money list, had a 73 and was at 143.

Sherri Steinhauer, the defending champion, had a 71 and was at 145, one shot better than the cut.