Sarah Jane Smith seizes lead at Ochoa Invitational

Sarah Jane Smith of Australia recorded a 4-under-par 68 Friday to take a two-shot lead after two rounds of the Lorena Ochoa Invitational at Club de Golf Mexico in Mexico City.

Smith is at 9-under for the tournament on the strength of her first-round score of 5-under-par 67.

This is the first time in Smith's career that she held the lead in an LPGA event after two rounds.

"I feel a little bit nervous to be honest, I have never been in this position before," Smith said. "So even a couple times today I was a little nervous, but I was happy with the way that I handled it. Hopefully I can just keep doing what I have been doing and see what happens."

Smith's best finish this year was at the Reignwood LPGA Classic, where she tied for 12th.

Smith was tied for the first-round lead with Ciganda, and the former had five birdies and one bogey in the second round.

Tied for second are Gaby Lopez of Mexico City, Mi Jung Hur of South Korea and Mariajo Uribe of Colombia. Lopez had the low round of the day with a 7-under 65, while Hur shot a 66 and Uribe had a 67.

Chella Cloi and Karine Icher both shot 69 on Friday and are tied for fifth at 6-under, three strokes behind the leader.

Ciganda slipped to tie for seventh after an even-par 72 in the second round.

Lopez, who is playing on her home course, entered the second round tied for 17th. But she had an eagle and six birdies to make up ground Friday. Her eagle came on the par-5 second hole, when she hit her second shot about 195 yards to within 2 feet of the hole. She made the putt for her eagle.

"It is one of those numbers when you know you have the number perfect, is just a matter of the swing, adjusting your swing," Lopez said.

Uribe did not have a single bogey in her round, which included five birdies.

"I just stayed patient today; yesterday I did some stupid mistakes that cost me some bogeys but I went bogey free today and took advantage of the par 5s," Uribe said. "I am feeling positive for the weekend, and this course is really scorable and the girls are playing good."