Meunier-Lebouc Puts Herself in Fast Company

PHOENIX — The top three female golfers in the world found themselves just about where they expected to be Friday -- on top of the leaderboard of the Safeway Ping tournament.

But sharing the top spot with Annika Sorenstam, Karrie Webb and Se Ri Pak was new to Patricia Meunier-Lebouc.

She shot a six-under-par 66 to match the LPGA stars at 11-under 133 midway through the second tournament of the season.

“I just enjoyed the day,” said Meunier-Lebouc, a third-year tour player from France. “I really wanted to be in the last group. I really made the putt on the last hole thinking I would be with some of them if I made it.”

But Meunier-Lebouc, whose only LPGA win came last year in the State Farm Classic, has a long way to go to match the exploits of the others.

Among them, Webb, Pak and Sorenstam have 88 wins -- 42 by Sorenstam. To be tied with them in this tournament is a thrill for the 30-year-old player from Dijon, France, who was a European tour fixture before qualifying for the LPGA in 2001.

Sorenstam birdied the last three holes and also shot a 66.

Webb just missed a 20-foot putt on the final hole that would have given her the outright lead. Instead, she settled for a 67.

Pak, who had a one-shot lead after the first round, shot a 68.