World number one Lorena Ochoa moved ominously into a tie for the lead in the opening women's major of the year, firing a one-under-par 71 in the Kraft Nabisco Championship second round on Friday. A stroke off the pace overnight, Ochoa took control at the tournament's midway point with American Heather Young, who carded a five-birdie 70 at Mission Hills Country Club. The pair ended a steaming hot day in the California desert at five-under 139, one ahead of Swede Maria Hjorth and South Korea's Kim Mi-hyun who returned matching 70s. Three-time champion Annika Sorenstam of Sweden, seeking her 11th Grand Slam crown, also posted a 70 to lie a further stroke back in a tie for fifth with Korean Han Hee-won (69). In pursuit of her second major title Mexican Ochoa shrugged off two late bogeys to take joint charge. Ochoa birdied the par-five second before reaching the turn in one-under 35, a stroke in front of the chasing pack. She also birdied the 10th and 11th to forge three ahead before bogeying the par-four 12th after pushing her drive into the right rough and ricocheting off a tree with her second shot. Although Ochoa also dropped at the 15th, she parred the last three holes to stay at the top of the leaderboard. The halfway cut fell at five-over 149 with 71 players qualifying for the last two rounds. Wagner holds lead In Houston, Johnson Wagner shot a three-under-par 69 to grab a three-stroke clubhouse lead in the second round of the weather-delayed Houston Open on Friday. A storm front forced a one hour, 45-minute suspension of play in the afternoon and as a result 36 players were unable to complete their second round at Redstone Golf Club. Wagner, co-leader overnight with holder Adam Scott of Australia after both fired course record 63s on Thursday, offset two bogeys with five birdies to finish 12-under on 132. Tied for second place at nine-under-par 135 were Mathew Goggin of Australia and American Charley Hoffman. American Chad Campbell also returned a 64 to stand alone in fourth place with a seven-under tally of 137.Bourdy takes lead In Portugal, Frenchman Gregory Bourdy added a six-under-par 65 on Friday to his course record 63 to take the outright lead at the Portuguese Open. Spain's Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano was two strokes off the pace on 12-under 130 after firing a second-round 66. Last week's Andalucia Open champion Thomas Levet (64), bidding for back-to-back wins, further boosted the French challenge on 131 while Briton Simon Khan (67) was fourth on 132. Another Frenchman, former Portuguese Open champion Jean-Francois Remesy, tied the course record set by first-round leaders Bourdy and holder Pablo Martin of Spain to share fifth place on 133 with British trio Steve Webster, Simon Dyson and Oliver Fisher. Martin stalled with a 71 for 134. __
