PALM DESERT, Calif. – Grace Park followed her sensational first round with a steady, 5-under 67 Friday and opened a four-shot lead midway through the Samsung World Championship.

Park, who had perhaps the best round of her career when she shot a 62 to begin the tournament, went to 15-under 129 through 36 holes at Bighorn Golf Club.

Shi Hyun Ahn, like Park a native of South Korea, and Karen Stupples matched 65s and were tied for second.

Three-time tournament champion Annika Sorenstam was tied for fourth, five shots off the lead, with Cristie Kerr, Lorena Ochoa and Catriona Matthew.

Sorenstam shot a 68, including a bogey on the final hole. Kerr and Ochoa also had 68s, and Matthew shot a 70.

Amateur Michelle Wie matched par and was at 146 through two rounds. Wie, a 10th-grader in Honolulu who turned 15 on Monday, was ahead of only Laura Davies (147) in the select 20-player field.

While she said she was “thrilled” after her first round, Park was satisfied with her second.

No bogeys for Geiberger

GREENSBORO, N.C. – A heat wrap kept Brent Geiberger’s ailing hip from hurting, and his best consecutive rounds of the season took care of the rest.

Now, he finds himself in the final pairing on a weekend for the first time in more than five years.

Geiberger finished with a bogey-free 67 Friday in the second round of the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro, and his 11-under 133 was one shot better than 2001 PGA champion David Toms (65), Tom Pernice Jr. (68) and journeyman Jeff Brehaut (66).

Kite shares lead

SAN ANTONIO – Tom Kite’s opening round in the SBC Championship didn’t look like much at the turn. Nine holes later, he was tied for lead.

Kite, even after the front nine, made five birdies over his next seven holes and went on to a 5-under 66 that left him in a tie with playing partner Tom Jenkins, Dave Stockton and James Mason.

“I got off to a little bit of a shaky start,” said Kite, who has one victory and seven other top-5 finishes on the Champions Tour this year. “This is a tricky little course. You’ve got to be on your toes.”

Jim Thorpe and Mark McNulty were one shot back, while points leader Hale Irwin and 2002 champion Dana Quigley were in a group of 13 at 68 at the Oak Hills Country Club.

Defending champion Craig Stadler, who trails Irwin by just one point for the Schwab Cup and its $1 million purse, had four bogeys on the front nine and finished at 74.

Kite, a Texas native, is looking for his first-ever professional victory in his home state. Coming into the SBC Championship, the Austin resident is 0-for-103 in Texas.

After three pars, he bogeyed the par-4 4th but got the stroke back one hole later before finishing the front nine with four more pars.

Kite began a run of three straight birdies on the par-5 10th by hitting his third shot out of a bunker within 10 feet. He added birdies on Nos. 14 and 15 for a 31 on the back.

“I hit iron shots very, very close, and I started making some putts,” he said.

Jenkins turned in an erratic round that started with four birdies and two bogeys on the first six holes. He hit only eight of 14 fairways in his round, but he balanced that by one-putting 12 times.

“The putter felt great,” said Jenkins, who made a 20-foot putt for eagle on the par-5 15th. “It felt like it melted in your hand when you’re stroking it.”

Stockton and Mason played together in a threesome that included Raymond Floyd (68).

“For the most part you could get at these pins,” said Stockton, who last won on the Champions Tour in 1997. “It’s a shotmaker’s course.”

Mason had two birdies and a bogey on the front before carding four birdies on the back, the last coming when he hit a 7-iron to 5 feet on the par-3 18th.

“I’ve got two more rounds,” said Mason, whose only Champions Tour win came in the 2002 NFL Golf Classic. “It’s good to be here today, but I want to be here on Sunday.”