Henseleit, Vu share lead entering weekend play at Portland Classic

Esther Henseleit feels as though she has been spinning her wheels the last six months on the LPGA Tour. That made Friday at the AmazingCre Portland Classic feel as though she were absolutely soaring.

Henseleit rolled in 10 birdie putts on her way to an 8-under 64, giving the 23-year-old German a share of the lead with Lilia Vu going into the weekend in Portland, Ore.

Columbia Edgewater is tight and tree-lined with firm greens that roll true. Henseleit kept the ball in play and let her putter do the rest of the work.

"I had some easy putts and hit the line and they went in, so that went well today," Henseleit said. "I had many chances, but they were not gimmes. I didn't have a tap-in birdie at all."

Vu, a former No. 1 amateur player when she was at UCLA, had four birdies and an eagle on her opening seven holes and then played steadily on the back nine for a 66.

Vu and Henseleit were at 10-under 134.

They were one shot ahead of Carlota Ciganda of Spain, who had a 66. The large group at 8-under 136 included another former No. 1 amateur, Andrea Lee, and one of the hottest players on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean in Maja Stark of Sweden.

Stark, who played at Oklahoma State, has won four times on the Ladies European Tour, including the ISPS Handa World Invitational in Northern Ireland, which was co-sanctioned by the LPGA Tour.

She is up to No. 47 in the women's world ranking, and at No. 54 in the Race to CME Globe, is trying to secure of the 60 spots in the season finale in Florida in November.

Lee started her season on the developmental Epson Tour and then started to break out of a slump with a good finish in Hawaii.

She reached the semifinals of the Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play in Las Vegas, had a tie for 15th in the