KAPALUA » Brittany Lang grew up on the plains of north central Texas, so these little old tradewinds don't bother her.

The 23-year-old even came to Maui last December with her boyfriend and played the Bay Course several times in breezes worse than these that have swept through the opening two rounds of the $1.5 million Kapalua LPGA Classic.

Her 1-under 71 yesterday left Lang in a tie at the top with first-day leader Suzann Pettersen (72) at 4-under 140 in a tightly bunched group where only eight shots separate first from last entering the third round of the final full-field event of the LPGA Tour.

When Lang left Duke after two years in 2005, most folks figured the tall Texan would have an immediate impact on tour. And while she's had a modicum of success in three-plus seasons as a professional with 13 top 10s, including two seconds, finding the winner's circle is something Lang has failed to do in 85 previous starts.

“;I've never held the lead overnight in an LPGA tournament,”; Lang said. “;I wasn't in the final group at any of the tournaments with all of the cameras and everything on you in the final group. So I've never really had all eyes on me and I want to learn how to be comfortable in that position.”;

That won't be a problem for Pettersen. She has performed better under pressure than Lang, but the 27-year-old also has stumbled a time or two after putting herself in a position to win. A five-time winner in 2007, including a major at the LPGA Championship, a tumultuous campaign has left Pettersen 0-for-2008.

Since first coming to Oahu at the start of the season, Pettersen has changed clubs from TaylorMade to Nike, switched swing coaches and even recently fired her caddie and hired back her old one, all in an attempt to find her game.

This week, the powerful Norwegian with the big drives is 4 under on the par-5s, but birdied only one yesterday in the windy conditions that have been here from the start.

“;It's definitely tough out there in the afternoon,”; Pettersen said. “;Like you didn't see a lot of low scores yesterday afternoon, either. Today, I just left way too many putts out there. I would have been happy even with 2 or 3 under, that's how I felt.

“;I felt I'm in great position. I didn't lose any ground. This wind is definitely holding this course up, because if the wind stops blowing, I wouldn't say a piece of cake, but the wind really toughens up this golf course.”;

You won't get any argument from those who survived the trades to play through to the weekend. Only 17 golfers landed in red figures through the opening two rounds, with just a half-dozen in the 60s yesterday.

Alena Sharp went off early yesterday morning and equaled the course record with a 5-under 67. She heads a group of six golfers just one shot off the pace at 3-under 141 for the tournament. Also in that group are South Koreans Sun Young Yoo, Jee Young Lee, Ji Young Oh and Il Mi Chung and New Yorker Laura Diaz.

Diaz began the year with a second-place finish to Annika Sorenstam at the SBS Open. The 33-year-old hopes she can play well enough over the weekend to contend for the title in this inaugural event, one of six on the LPGA Tour this season.

“;I'm right where you want to be,”; Diaz said. “;You want to give yourself a chance to win on Sunday, and hopefully I can play a little better the final day than I did at the SBS Open.”;

After shooting a woeful 77 on Thursday, Sorenstam lived to play another day with a 2-under 70 yesterday to finish at 3 over for the tournament. The cut was plus four.