LANCASTER, Pa. -- After two rounds of the 70th U.S. Women's Open at Lancaster Country Club, everyone is trying to catch leader Amy Yang, whose 133 total is the lowest opening 36 holes at the championship since Helen Alfredsson's 132 in 1994.
Here are three observations halfway through.
1. Laura Davies is one of golf's treasures.
On Monday at 6 p.m. in St. Andrews, Scotland, Dame Laura Davies will be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame -- an overdue honor -- but the Englishwoman won't be arriving in the Home of Golf with much time to spare. There is the more pressing matter of the U.S. Women's Open.
Davies, a determined 51-year-old who is still playing regularly on the LPGA and Ladies European tours, shot a 72 Friday to comfortably make the 36-hole at 2-over 142 in her 27th appearance in a championship she won in 1987.
She has done things her way in a lengthy and distinguished career. Davies has never taken too long over a shot or spent too many hours on the practice range. Candid and often funny, she rode her instinctive and powerful game to become one of the best golfers of her era -- as evidenced by her 20 LPGA and 45 LET victories, including four majors.
And although she is in the twilight of her career, Davies is not rushing the sunset, despite longtime struggles on the greens. She was seventh in an LET event last week with nine three-putts.
"As long as I'm not making a fool of myself," she said Friday when asked how long she would compete. "As long as I feel like I can win, and I really do feel like I can win every time I tee it up. As long as that feeling stays around, I don't see any reason to not go on another five, 10 years. Who knows? I might play rubbish the rest of this year and decide that's it, I can't do it to myself anymore."
When the Hall of Fame decided to have its 2015 ceremony the week of the Open Championship, Davies wasn't about to pass up the U.S. Women's Open. A top-10 finish will be worth some Solheim Cup points. Davies is currently eighth on the European points list -- the top four players qualify, along with four off the Rolex Rankings and four captain's picks -- and Davies wants to be playing in Germany in September in her 13th Solheim Cup. "I don't want to be commentating," said Davies, who didn't play in 2013 after a dozen consecutive appearances in the biennial matches.
After Davies finishes the fourth round Sunday, she will catch a 10 p.m. flight from Philadelphia to London with a connecting flight scheduled to arrive in Edinburgh, Scotland, at 1 p.m. "Then I've got to drive to Dundee to the hotel, check in, have a shower," Davies said. "That should take me to 'round about 4 o'clock, at which stage I can have a couple of pints of cider and get on the bus to the Hall of Fame thing."
Davies has taped a video acceptance speech in case there are travel delays, but everyone should hope the planes are on time. Her remarks will be from the heart, not off a teleprompter. She isn't looking forward to being on stage and having "people make a fuss of me." Yet Davies, one of the sport's genuine personalities and talents, deserves the attention for having made golf a better place.
2. Stacy Lewis -- no surprise --is in great position for the weekend.
The 30-year-old American lost a heartbreaker at the ANA Inspiration this spring in a playoff with Brittany Lincicome and subsequently had some off weeks as she tweaked her swing. But you had a feeling that Lewis would have her game in good order for the U.S. Women's Open, the tournament she most wants to win.
Lewis didn't get off to the best start early in the opening round -- 2 over through 12 holes -- but the next 24 holes have been a different story as she began to hit approach shots with her old authority. She rallied to shoot an opening 69 and followed that with a 67 Friday to trail Yang by three going into the weekend. A bogey at her final hole kept her from being closer to the lead, but she is in wonderful position to improve on her runner-up finish in the 2014 Women's Open.
3. Lydia Ko isn't quite clicking on all cylinders.
After closing with a 63 at the Walmart Northwest Arkansas Championship to tie for sixth, the 18-year-old sensation appeared to be working her way back toward winning form and ready to contend at Lancaster after two disappointing major performances -- including her first career missed cut on the LPGA at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship.
An opening 70 was solid, but Friday's 72 leaves Ko a whopping nine strokes behind Yang with 36 holes to go. It's not an insurmountable deficit, but Ko will have to putt much better than she did in the second round when she had a number of good birdie attempts but left most of her putts short.