Okamoto Misses Cut at StoneRidge; Brown, Davies Lead

POWAY — There are many contenders at the halfway point of the LPGA Tour’s Red Robin Kyocera Inamori tournament at StoneRidge, but defending champion Ayako Okamoto isn’t one of them.

In fact, Okamoto is no longer in the tournament. After winning here twice in a row, she bowed out Friday when she added an 80 to her first-round 75 and missed the cut by eight strokes. A year ago, she had rounds of 69, 71, 63 and 69 on the same 6,042-yard course.

So while Nancy Brown and Laura Davies moved into a tie for the lead with 36-hole scores of 136, Okamoto bemoaned the extension of a slump that has plagued her all season. She had said she wasn’t ready to make it three in a row here, and if anything, she understated the case.

“It’s really, really frustrating,” said Okamoto, a tour veteran from Japan. “I felt frustrated the whole day, all week, every day, every shot.”

When it was mentioned that she has typically been a slow starter, Okamoto said, “Yes, but not this slow. Having won here twice makes it more frustrating. Now that’s all in the past.”

Okamoto led the tour in 1987 with earnings of $466,034, and finished sixth last year with $300,206. But she has won only $12,946 in 1989, and this is the second consecutive week she has failed to make the cut.

Brown and Davies, who were one shot off the lead with 69s in the first round, shot four-under 67s Friday. Martha Nause shot a 68 and moved within a stroke at 137.

Two of the three first-round leaders, Dale Eggeling and Cindy Rarick, came in with 70s and dropped into a fourth-place tie with Sue Tonkin (68 Friday) at 138. The other, Deedee Lasker of Rancho Santa Fe, skidded to a 74 and into a tie for 18th at 142.

Pat Bradley and Amy Alcott, Nos. 1 and 4 on the all-time women’s money list, are three shots off the lead at 139.

The heat wave continued with a 101-degree reading--it was 102 Thursday--but the only complaint heard was a mild one from Davies.

“It does get a bit unpleasant,” said Davies, 25. “It seemed hotter than yesterday.”

Brown was the first to spring into the lead, and she lost no time in finding relief from the stifling heat. She was shopping in an air-conditioned mall when Davies matched her 67.

“I had the advantage of playing early,” Brown said. “I was fortunate enough to have a good round yesterday (Thursday) afternoon, so I knew I had a great opportunity. I had my toughest day out of the way. It helps to play before the wind comes up and the greens get bumpy.”

Brown, who is from Centralia, Ill. and will turn 28 on April 26, has yet to win since joining the tour in 1985. But she has earned $207,714 and finished as high as third, so she isn’t exactly one of the have-nots of the tour.

“It’s just tough to get that big one,” Brown said. “I’ve missed playoffs by a shot twice, and I’ve had five top 10s, so I have an idea what it might be like. You have to be patient, but I’m ready.”

Ever since she won the pre-tournament shootout Tuesday, Brown has had a feeling that this might finally be her week.

“It wasn’t just winning it (the shootout),” she said. “It was the way I won it. When I hit a tee shot into a tree and came out with a par by sinking a 40-foot putt, I kind of felt like that was a good omen.”

Coincidentally, Brown beat Nause on the final hole of the shootout, and now Nause is just a shot behind.

Told that the pair might wind up in another kind of shootout Sunday, Brown said, “That would be nice.”

Brown’s round included five birdies and one bogey, that on the second hole.

“I used a bad choice of clubs off the tee and hit the ball between two trees. I had to punch it out. I also missed a chance for a birdie on 17 with one of my few bad shots of the day.

“My putting was good, though. I’ve been complaining about it for three weeks, because I’ve been too tentative. Here the greens are slower, and that helped me.”

Davies, a second-year pro from West Byfleet, England, is the longest hitter on the tour and used her strength to birdie four of the five par fives. She matched Brown’s total of five birdies, and her only bogey was on No. 9, the last hole she played.

“I had nine out of 10 (birdies) for the two days on the par fives,” Davies said. “I birdied all five yesterday. Today I hit all five greens in two.

“It’s just that my putter has let me down. I had good birdie opportunities all the way around, but after 16 (she played the back nine first), I didn’t make a good putt all day. I could even have had a couple of eagles, but they just didn’t go in.”

Davies classifies herself as a streaky putter.

“When I get on a roll, I tend to make everything,” she said.

Davies made an impressive American debut last year, winning two tournaments and earning $160,382. Her best finish this year has been a tie for eighth. The same is true of Brown.

Nause, from Sheboygan, Wis., ran off 12 pars in succession, then made three birdies on the last six holes.

“I was basically down the middle all day,” she said. “I borrowed somebody’s clubs last week, and that has really made a difference.”

LPGA Notes

Sue Thomas of Texarkana, Tex., shot the first hole-in-one of the tournament Friday, sinking her tee shot on the 161-yard 16th hole. She used a five-iron. Still, she struggled to a 76 and missed the cut with a 36-hole total of 156. . . . A score of 147, five over, was good enough to qualify for the last two rounds. Among 76 golfers who made the cut were three from San Diego County--Deedee Lasker of Rancho Santa Fe at 142, Kathryn Young of Coronado at 145 and Meg Mallon of Ramona at 147. Those who missed were Heather Drew of Solana Beach, Yuka Irie of Carlsbad, Debbie Skinner of Chula Vista and Sharon Barrett of Spring Valley. Other casualties included veterans Kathy Whitworth, Laura Baugh and Marlene Hagge.