Candie Kung and Carin Koch moved into a joint lead of the Women's British Open at the halfway stage on eight under par.

But world number one Annika Sorenstam suffered in the difficult conditions and, having carded a 77, missed the cut for the first time in 74 tournaments.

England's Laura Davies and US Open champion Juli Inkster are also going home early.

Taiwan's Kung started her second round well as she birdied the second and eagled the third and at one point she was 10 under.

Kung then fell back after bogeys on the seventh and ninth holes - a final bogey on the 18th hole meant that she missed out on a one-shot overnight lead.

Sweden's Koch shot four birdies as she completed her second sucessive round of 68.

Paula Marti, Karrie Webb, Beth Bauer, and Tina Barrett finished the day a further shot behind on seven under.

A group of nine players including defending champion Se Ri Pak of Korea are still well placed on five under.

But Sorenstam missing out was a huge shock.

"It's a shame because I came here feeling good about my game and I had prepared exactly the way I wanted.

"I had two unplayables and a triple in two days and, if you have that, you can't really score here."

Davies also missed the cut after a disastrous finish to a 75 that left her on five-over 149.

She dropped a shot at the 17th and ran up a double-bogey at the last when she hit her tee shot into a bunker and just managed to escape.

Close to tears, the 1986 champion admitted: "There's not a lot to say except that to miss the cut is a massive disappointment."

Mhairi McKay led the British challenge over her home course with a second round level-par 72.

McKay, the leading Briton on the American LPGA Tour carded three birdies to finish on four under par, four shots behind the leaders.

136 Carin Koch (Swe), Candie Kung (Tai)
137 Paula Marti (Spa) Karrie Webb (Aus), Beth Bauer (US),Tina Barrett (US)
138 Elisabeth Esterl (Ger)
139 Emilee Klein (US), Se Ri Pak (Kor), Jennifer Rosales (Phi), Wendy Doolan (Aus), Natalie Gulbis (US), Catrin Nilsmark (Swe), Pat Hurst (US), Angela Stanford (US), Michelle Ellis (Aus)