By Jeremy Harnes

AP photo: USGA golfer Sung Hyun Park hits from the 18th tee during the second round on Friday at CordeValle Park is the current leader of the tournament

SAN MARTIN–It has been a well-documented fact that CordeValle Golf Resort plays completely different in the morning – calmer conditions and softer greens with a much higher potential for scoring – than it does in the afternoon, when the greens harden up to the point where it is very tough to stop the ball on them, even with a wedge shot.

Mirim Lee, who used the morning conditions to grab the opening-round lead, found this out on Friday, as she teed it up in the afternoon.

The Korean held things together on the front nine, but things came a bit unglued on the back side, and she left the course on Friday having given up her lead after shooting a two-over 74, a 10-stroke difference from the day before.

“It was really tough today,” Lee said. “The greens were a little slow but a little firm, too. I kept trying to hit the fairway and the green, but I couldn’t.”

In the meantime, fellow Korean Sung Hyun Park catapulted herself into the lead with a six-under 66, and the two players will play in the final group of the day Saturday, scheduled for 1:25 pm PST.

Pleasanton native Paula Creamer, who won this event in (2014), made the cut exactly on the number on Friday. With a pair of two-over scores of 74 in the opening two rounds of this tournament, Creamer heads into this weekend’s proceedings with an overall score of four-over, which proved to be the cut line.

Also barely making the cut was Brooke Henderson, who won the Cambria Portland Classic just last weekend. After shooting a four-over 76 on Thursday, the Canadian rebounded quite nicely on Friday with a one-under 71 to punch her ticket to the weekend.

Christina Kim, a native of San Jose, which is less than a half-hour away from CordeValle, also made the cut, although she backed her way in. She struggled to a three-over 75 on Friday after firing a two-under 70 in the opening round.

NOTES: One of the notable players to miss the cut was Se Ri Pak, who is considered a legend as well as a pioneer in her native South Korea, and is credited for paving the way for players such as Lee, Park as well as So Yeon Ryu.

Pak appeared to be on pace to make the cut after posting a one-over 73 on Thursday and holding it together through the front nine on Friday. However, things got away from her quickly on the back nine, and she finished Friday with an 80.

“Over 19 years, I have such a great time,” Pak said. “I have such great success, beginning with the U.S Open. The USGA makes it so special for me, (as) this is my retire(ment) year.”