Mallon had ten birdies in her round

American Meg Mallon took advantage of excellent conditions to move into the lead at the Welch's/Fry's Championship in Arizona.

The Solheim Cup player had a chance to become only the second woman to shoot under 60 when she had a 20-foot birdie putt at her final hole, the short ninth.

But her bid to join Annika Sorenstam in the record books fell a couple of feet short and she had to make do with a round of 60 and a 16-under-par 124 halfway total.

She has a three-shot lead over Australia's Wendy Doolan and Canada's Lorie Kane.

Collated scores

"It would have been great to match Annika (who shot 59 in the 2001 Ping Tournament in Phoenix) but it's still great to go so low," said 39-year-old Mallon, whose previous best was 62.

Wales' Becky Morgan surged through the field with a second round 65 which included seven birdies to move to seven-under 133.

Norway's Solheim Cup player Suzann Pettersen, who had an opening 72, shot a great 61 to easily make the cut, but she still could miss the rest of the weekend.

The Solheim Cup player twisted her knee at the 15th and was in such pain that she thought she might have to withdraw.

"I only kept going because it was so important," said the 21-year-old playing in her first event as a US tour card holder.