Stanford shot a 6-under 66 and Miyazato had a 68 to reach 11-under 133 on the tree-lined Hillsdale Golf Club course north of Montreal.
“The wind never really kicked up, so that helps, and the greens are still pretty soft,” Stanford said. “It’s not surprising people are playing well.”
Song-Hee Kim was third at 9 under after a 68, with eight players another stroke back, including defending champion Michelle Wie, who shot a 69. Paula Creamer also was in the group after a 68.
The cut was at 1 under, tying the record in the national championship set in 1998 — when the event was the du Maurier Classic — at Essex in Windsor, Ontario. Eighty of 155 players in the field broke par Friday.
Stanford had seven birdies and a bogey. She joked after her first-round 67 that her putter had finally shown up for a tournament, but cautioned a day later that “it’s still to be determined because I have two days left. I can’t fall in love with him just yet. We’re on speaking terms though, so that’s good.”
Miyazato began the day tied for the lead at 7 under with Pernilla Lindberg, who shot 71 to join Wie, Creamer, Seon Hwa Lee (65), Becky Morgan (67), Sophie Gustafson (68), Gerina Piller (66) and Brittany Lincicome (68) at 8 under.
“The fairway is wide open, the greens are big,” said Miyazato, the Evian Masters winner last month in France. “You can be aggressive hitting the second shot. “So this weekend, will be close to 20 under, but it depends on the weather and it depends on the pin positions. I’ll try to make as many birdies as I can.”
Wie had five birdies and two bogeys.
“It’s what I wanted for the weekend,” Wie said. “I’m motivated to go out and try to get this thing done. I’ll do like I’ve done the last two days — stay patient and try to make a lot more birdies.”
Top-ranked Yani Tseng had her second straight 71.
Suzann Pettersen, the Safeway Classic winner Sunday in Oregon, had her second straight 73 to miss the cut. Pettersen won the 2009 Canadian Open and tied for second last year.
