Lang, Pettersen share lead at Kapalua

KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) -Brittany Lang won eight times as a junior and added many more trophies during her two years at Duke. She's also finished in the top-10 several times on the LPGA Tour.

But she has never experienced the attention, and pressure, of being in the final group as a pro.

She'll get her chance Saturday after shooting a 1-under 71 Friday for a share of the lead with Suzann Pettersen heading into the third round of the inaugural Kapalua LPGA Classic.

"I've never had all eyes on me, and I want to learn how to be comfortable in that position," Lang said.

Lang said she'll try not to get ahead of herself this weekend.

"I start thinking about winning instead of what got me here," she said. "I just want to make sure I'm aware of just trying to be present."

While Kapalua is making its LPGA Tour debut, Lang is a veteran at handling its challenging tradewinds and tricky greens. Last December, she played the Bay Course four times while on a trip to Maui with one of her sponsors.

"I got to play in way more wind than this, so this seems easy," she said. "I learned every hole and knew where we were playing from and got a feel for the greens."

Lang stayed aggressive Friday despite the breezes that frustrated many players, birdieing Nos. 11 and 13 to match Pettersen (72) at 4-under 140.

"I would have been happy even with 2 or 3 under," Pettersen said. "But I'm in a great position. I didn't lose any ground."

Pettersen is going to focus only on her game and not worry about Lang or the eight players who are within two strokes of the lead.

"I don't really care where the other people are," she said. "I'm going to play this course as best as I can for the next two days and take whatever the course gives us."

For the first two rounds, the morning groups enjoyed calmer conditions with the tradewinds picking up in the afternoon.