American Angel Yin carded a seven-under-par 65 to lead the LPGA’s KEB Hana Bank Championship on 11-under after the second round on Friday, with South Koreans Chun In-gee, Park Sung-hyun and Ko Jin-young in hot pursuit two shots back.
SEOUL (Reuters) – American Angel Yin carded a seven-under-par 65 to lead the LPGA&rsquo-s KEB Hana Bank Championship on 11-under after the second round on Friday, with South Koreans Chun In-gee, Park Sung-hyun and Ko Jin-young in hot pursuit two shots back.
Two-time major champion Chun matched Yin&rsquo-s 65 at the SKY72 Golf and Resort in Incheon, west of Seoul, while LPGA rookie Park, who won this year&rsquo-s U.S. Women&rsquo-s Open, stuttered on the back nine before coming home with a three-under 69.
Ko, one of the top players on the Korean circuit, carried her strong domestic form into the $2 million U.S. LPGA event with a roller coaster round of 67 that featured eight birdies.
Yin said an eagle at the par-five fifth had breathed life into a quiet opening to her round.
&ldquo-That got everything started. I made a few pars in the beginning, but that eagle just fired everything up,&rdquo- she said.
Chun, whose two wins on the LPGA Tour have both been majors (2015 U.S. Open, 2016 Evian Championship), has been runner-up five times this season but said it had been far from a disappointing year.
&ldquo-Of course with every event you want to win, but you can&rsquo-t win every time. That&rsquo-s kind of like life,&rdquo- she told reporters.
&ldquo-I know that every shot, every putt throughout the 18 holes can&rsquo-t be perfect, but yet I strive for perfection. Because of that tendency I tend to overthink.&rdquo-
Park, a virtual lock to win Rookie of the Year and who currently leads the Tour&rsquo-s money winning standings, looked set to power clear of the field after her fifth birdie of the day took her to 10-under through 10 holes.
But her momentum stalled with a bogey on 13 where she had to take a drop for an unplayable lie after her hooked second shot at the par-five landed in thick bushes.
&ldquo-I think after the 13th hole I kind of became antsy and my putting stroke was a bit off,&rdquo- said Park. &ldquo-After that I missed a lot of short putts, so that was a bit unfortunate for me.&rdquo-
Park missed another birdie opportunity at the par-five final hole and said it was not easy for her as a big hitter to walk away from the longer holes without picking up shots.
&ldquo-I am a long hitter but doesn&rsquo-t mean that I&lsquo-m guaranteed a birdie on a par-five hole. I am trying to be more comfortable about that,&rdquo- she added.
Defending champion Carlota Ciganda of Spain got back into the mix with a five-under 67 to stand six shots behind the leader heading into Saturday&rsquo-s third round.