North Augusta, S.C. ? Rosie Jones walked past her friend, Wendy Ward, after they held the top two spots at the Asahi Ryokuken International Friday, and pumped her fist.

“Americans … yeah!” Ward said as Jones grinned.

With Jones (68) leading the way at 10-under 134 through two rounds, there’s plenty for American players to smile about. They hold the first five places at the tournament and seem to have a good chance at ending a streak of 17 straight wins by foreign-born players — the longest in LPGA Tour history — that began nearly nine months ago.

Jones was a stroke ahead of Ward (67). Another shot behind were Americans Laura Diaz (68), Pat Hurst (69) and Marcy Hart (66), who had the day’s best round.

Should any of them win Sunday at Mount Vintage Plantation Golf Club, it would be the first by an American since Meg Mallon took the Canadian Women’s Open last August.

“I don’t think it’s a great story,” Jones said with a laugh. “Get over it.”

And yes, Jones would love to break the streak “because I have not won a tournament in two years,” she said. “I don’t care about beating all the international players because I have to beat them anyway. I want to beat all the Americans, too.”

Jones has a history of both. She’s got 12 career wins, including a victory at the Kathy Ireland event in April 2001 that ended America’s 0-for-10 start in LPGA titles that year.

Defending champion Janice Moodie (69) of Scotland led two other internationals, Hee-Won Han (68) of Korea and Giulia Sergas (70) of Italy, four strokes back at 6-under. Joining them was Tracy Hanson (68) of, you guessed it, the United States.

Ward says too much has been made about the foreign domination, but she was glad Americans were playing well.

“It seems like it gets written that the American players are struggling,” said Ward, born in San Antonio. “There is a slew of foreign players that are playing well. It doesn’t mean we are playing poorly. We just haven’t quite gotten the job done. So after reading something like that, it is fun to look up and see some Americans.”

Jones holed a wedge from the fairway for an eagle for the second straight round. This time, she hit a sand wedge from 75 yards away that rolled into the cup on the par-5 sixth hole.

She knocked in a 25-foot birdie putt on the eighth to go 10-under. After yanking her drive on the par-5 ninth hole to take bogey — “My only bad mistake in the last two rounds,” she said — Jones steadily moved through her round until No. 17, when she gave herself a tap-in birdie to get back to 10-under.

Sorenstam leads Nichirei

Tokyo — Annika Sorenstam shot a 2-under-par 70 Friday to take a one-stroke lead in the Nichirei Cup, her last tournament before playing in the PGA Tour’s Colonial.

Sorenstam had three birdies and one bogey on the Tokyo Yomiuri course to finish 36 holes at 8-under 136. Japan’s Junko Yasui, tied with Sorenstam after the first round, was second after a 71.

“Today’s round wasn’t as solid as yesterday’s,” said Sorenstam, who shot a 66 Thursday. “I wasn’t hitting the ball like I wanted to and was short on almost every green.”

Sorenstam, set to face the men in two weeks in Fort Worth, Texas, had her first birdie of the day on the par-5 sixth hole, hitting a sand wedge to 11 feet and making the uphill putt. The Swedish standout reached 8 under with a 15-foot birdie putt on No. 14.