Felibert pushes lead to 4 in Arkansas

Rogers, AR – Veronica Felibert carded a 5-under 66 Saturday and pushed her lead to four strokes after two rounds of the NW Arkansas Championship.

Felibert, an LPGA Tour rookie, finished 36 holes at 11-under 131 to set a new tournament 36-hole record.

The old record of 132 was established by Meena Lee and Eun-Hee Ji in 2008 and matched by Michelle Wie in 2010.

Mika Miyazato fired a 6-under 65 to move into a share of second place at minus-7. She was joined there by Inbee Park, the 2008 U.S. Women's Open champion, who shot 3-under 68 in round two at Pinnacle Country Club.

Last week's winner Brittany Lang fired an 8-under 63 to soar into a share of fourth place at 6-under 136. She stands alongside LPGA Championship winner Shanshan Feng (70), Katie Futcher (67), Ryann O'Toole (68) and Ai Miyazato (68).

World No. 1 Yani Tseng, who won this title the last two years, stumbled to a 74 and missed the cut by four strokes. Wie also has the final round off as she missed the cut for the sixth time in her last seven stroke-play events.

Felibert, who turned 27 on Saturday, led by one to start the round. But by the time she teed off several players had joined her at minus-6.

The Venezuelan quickly moved back in front by playing steady golf, starting with a birdie on the par-5 second. Two holes later, she birdied the fourth to move to minus-8.

Felibert, who had three top-10 finishes last year on the Symetra Tour, extended her lead with a birdie on the par-3 sixth.

Around the turn, Felibert birdied the 10th to get to 10-under. She parred the next four holes before converting her final birdie effort on the par-3 15th.

"Putting has been my key this week, and hitting a lot of greens," Felibert said. "Last year, I was hitting the ball pretty solid and this year I haven't been able to hit it as solid as I wanted to. It all happened this week. I'm starting to hit the numbers I want again and leaving a lot of opportunities for birdie."

Mika Miyazato also had a bogey-free round. She started on the back nine and posted birdies at 12 and 14, then birdied the 17th to make the turn at minus-4.

The 22-year-old birdied the third and later birdied seven and eight to grab a share of second.

"I had a very good day, a bogey-free round today," Miyazato said. "Very tough conditions with an afternoon tee time with the heat. I tried to eat more and focus on the golf."

Park began her up-and-down round with birdies at 10 and 11. After tripping to a bogey on the 13th, Park erased that error with a birdie on No. 14 before faltering to another bogey at the 16th to slide back to minus-5.

Around the turn, the 23-year-old Korean birdied the first. Park bogeyed the fourth, but came right back with a birdie at the fifth. She traded a bogey for a birdie from the sixth then birdied the ninth, her last, to join Miyazato in second place.

NOTES: Felibert is looking to become the first rookie to win on the LPGA Tour since Beatriz Recari at the 2010 CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenge...The cut line fell at 1-over-par 143 with 72 players advancing...Tseng and Wie weren't the only big names to miss the cut. Cristie Kerr, Laura Davies and Karen Stupples also failed to move on.