Ochoa bounced back from a double bogey with two birdies that sent her to a 1-under 71 today, leaving her atop the leaderboard with Paula Creamer in the first LPGA Tour major of the year, and on track to replace Annika Sorenstam at No. 1 in the world.

''Being able to finish under par makes me feel good,'' Ochoa said.

Even after she opened with a 73, Creamer felt a score like Ochoa's record-tying 62 was available at Mission Hills. She did her best with a bogey-free 67 in which she missed four birdie putts inside 12 feet, including the last two holes.

Ochoa and Creamer were at 4-under 140, one shot ahead of Shi Hyun Ahn (73) and Suzann Pettersen (69), the runner-up to Ochoa last week outside Phoenix.

Se Ri Pak shot 70 and was at 142. She needs a victory this week to become only the seventh woman to complete the Grand Slam.

Annika Sorenstam will have a tough time stopping them.

After her worst start at a major in seven years (75), Sorenstam earned another dubious distinction Friday after a 76. Her 36-hole score was her worst in a major since she started 76-75 at Oakmont in the 1992 U.S. Women's Open, which she played as an amateur. She was 15 shots out of the lead.

Mission Hills played even tougher than the first round, even on another day of sunshine in the Coachella Valley with barely a breeze. The greens were firm as ever, but what cost Ochoa in the early going was the thick grass framing the fairways.

She went from the left rough to the right rough on the par-4 13th and had to two-putt down a slippery slope from 25 feet to escape with bogey. There was no hiding on the 15th, however.

Ochoa's tee shot sailed right into rough under the trees, and she tried to scoot a 4-iron up the fairway. But she topped it slightly, the ball never got much air under it and traveled a mere 15 yards, still in the rough, still slightly blocked by trees. Her third shot hung up on a steep, grassy lip of the bunker, and her chip ran through the green into more rough.

Ochoa chipped to 4 feet and holed the putt to limit the damage. And while she lost two shots, she kept her perspective.

''I saw myself under par,'' said Ochoa, who at that point was 1 under. ''And under par is always a good score in a major.''

She steadied herself with a tee shot into 18 inches on the par-3 17th, a tough hole with a front pin and hard green. And her round turned on the par-5 18th, which played 485 yards to give players a chance to reach the peninsula green in two. Ochoa was in the first cut to the left, but her only doubt was club selection.

She wanted a 7-wood from 192 yards, but caddie Dave Brooker suggested a 5-wood to be on the safe side. Ochoa agreed, which was a good thing, for the ball descended with a slight fade and cleared the edge of the pond by 5 feet, hanging on the bank. She chipped to 8 feet and made the birdie putt, sending her to her back nine with positive vibes.

Even then, it was hard work.

From the right rough, she punched out over a cardboard trash can and just onto the green, but then knocked her 40-foot birdie attempt about 10 feet by and caught the lip for a three-putt bogey. She came up well short with a wedge on the par-5 second, and left herself a testy 6-footer for par. She made that to avoid consecutive three-putts, then spent the next two holes standing over 4-foot par putts that she made to keep momentum on her side.

Defending champion Karrie Webb wasn't so fortunate. She struggled with her irons and didn't see too many putts ball into the cup except for a 30-footer for birdie on the second that put her at 1 under for the tournament, very much in the hunt.

But it began to unravel, and so did the Hall of Famer.

After a poor pitch into the third, she buried the head of her club into the fairway turf. She banged her sand wedge into the bag after a pedestrian bunker shot on the fourth, and Webb ran off two more bogeys on her way to a 77.

Pak again looks like the force she was when she burst onto the LPGA scene in 1998 with two majors as a rookie. She will be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame later this year, and she would love to be part of the Grand Slam club when she gets there.

Maybe the best indicator of her game is that she's even in contention at this major. Mission Hills has never been kind to the gregarious South Korean, with her best finish a tie for ninth in 2002.

''I feel more comfortable now. That's the difference,'' she said.

Pak's only bogey came on the 12th when she missed the fairway and came up short of the green. She made two birdies, including one from 25 feet on the first hole, and gladly took 15 pars to get her into weekend contention.