TCU alum Stanford 4 strokes back as LPGA stars line up in front

A group of seven golfers took turns scaling the leader board of the LPGA’s Volunteers of America Texas Shootout on Friday.

Among them are Haru Nomura of Japan, two Thai sisters and Inbee Park, the two-time champion from South Korea, a global leader in the export of smartphones and women’s golfers.

Lurking, however, at Las Colinas Country Club is one of Fort Worth’s favorite golfing daughters.

Angela Stanford, the former TCU standout with Horned Frogs purple still very prominent in her personal color wheel, shot a 2-under 69 on Friday for a two-round total of 5 under, four strokes back of Nomura, who sits at 9 under after firing a second-round 65.

If the 39-year-old Stanford is to conquer the field and win her first event since 2012, she’ll have to do it by defeating some of the world’s top golfers.

One back of Nomura is the world’s third-ranked player, Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand. Suzann Pettersen of Norway was at 7 under after also throwing up a 6-under 65 on Friday.

Three are at 6 under, including Park; Jutanugarn’s sister, Moriya, who shared the lead with her sister at one point after an ace on No. 13; and Marina Alex, a lesser-known American from Florida.

“I wasn’t really comfortable with my swing all day, but kind of held it together and made some good putts,” said Stanford, whose round included two bogeys on the par-3 Nos. 6 and 13, though she followed with birdie on each mishap. Stanford missed the green on both.

“I put myself in a couple bad spots that it was going to be hard to get up and down anyways, so that was more swing related. The one on 6 was moving right to left, so it had topspin on it, so there’s no way that ball was ever going to stop. It was the right club, bad swing.”

Dori Carter, a 30-year-old from Ole Miss, turned in a tournament-record 8-under 63 on Friday. She’ll likely need something similar in the third round to get into contention. She will enter Saturday at 3 under.

Rain that’s forecast throughout Saturday, particularly late afternoon, has already affected the third round.

Tournament officials said instead of pairs, groups will play in threesomes and will again tee off on Nos. 1 and 10 beginning at 7:10 a.m.

“That’s fine,” Stanford said of rainfall. “It might soften this place up a little bit. I think [Friday afternoon] is going to be really firm and fast, so a little bit of rain won’t hurt.”

Afternoon players, indeed, said the course was fast. It also was windy, which is forecast again Saturday.

Nomura birdied six of her first eight holes on the back and got to 10 under before stubbing her golf shoe with a bogey on the par-5 No. 18. She got in at 23 putts.

“My mind was very calm today,” said Nomura, a 24-year-old seeking her second victory on tour. “It was windy, but I like windy and tough conditions.”

Stanford, having been raised in a windy city, doesn’t mind them either.

Stanford, a five-time winner seeking her first triumph since the 2012 HSBC Women’s Champions, hit 14 of 18 greens and finished her round in 30 putts.

Her best finish this year is 18th, which she has done twice. Coming into this week, Stanford had consecutive finishes of 47 at the Lotte Championship and the ANA Inspiration, the season’s first major.

Stanford has one top 10 in the four previous tournament’s here, though she still believes she has a home-course advantage. The greens are much like Shady Oaks, where she spends most of her time.

“This is one of my favorites,” Stanford said. “And I get to go home to my own bed. It’s actually very refreshing mentally because when you’re on the road you know why you’re on the road: to play golf.

“Here, I go home and forget there’s a tournament going on. It’s actually really nice mentally.”

When she arrives first thing in the morning, however, she’ll know she’s in a dogfight.

This story was originally published April 28, 2017 at 7:41 PM with the headline "TCU alum Stanford 4 strokes back as LPGA stars line up in front."