Ciganda, Duncan & Choi Tied Atop the Leaderboard at The ANNIKA

• Carlota Ciganda, Lindy Duncan and Hye-Jin Choi share the 36-hole lead at The ANNIKA.
• The three co-leaders have matched the tournament’s 36-hole scoring record of 128.
• Mai Saigo and Minami Katsu are tied fourth, two shots behind.

Carlota Ciganda and Lindy Duncan caught Hye-Jin Choi on Friday, and the three share the halfway lead at 12-under 128 at The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican. The event is the final stop of the LPGA Tour’s regular season. All three have matched the tournament’s 36-hole record.

Choi shared the first-round lead with Minami Katsu after a 61. Duncan had been one behind after a 62 that included a hole-in-one.

Duncan recovers from an opening bogey

Duncan started on the back nine and bogeyed the par-4 10th. She then made six birdies against one more bogey for a 66, cheered on by a large group of family and friends. She missed one fairway all day and took 25 putts. Her 47 putts over two rounds are tied for the fewest in the field.

“I’ve hit a lot of fairways, so I think that gives me a lot of chances going into the greens, and that always helps,” said Duncan. “Really like hitting fairways and holing some putts is always kind of like what’s big for my game I think.”

In her 13 years on Tour, Duncan has never led or shared the lead after 36 holes, and 128 is her lowest two-round total. She started the week at No. 74 in the Race to the CME Globe and is projected to rise to No. 35. The top 60 after this week go to the CME Group Tour Championship.

One bogey in two rounds for Ciganda

Ciganda is in her 14th season on the LPGA Tour. She followed an opening 65 with eight birdies and a bogey for a 63, which equals her lowest round of the season. Her 13 birdies are tied for the second most in the field.

“Especially yesterday, I know I shoot 5-under but I feel like I hit it very close and it could have been like two or three shots better,” said Ciganda. “I was just like, keep being patient, hit greens, good speed on the putts, and hopefully they’ll go in. So I think I was patient today and I got rewarded at the end.”

Choi recovers in the afternoon wind

Choi went out in the afternoon, when the wind got up and few players went low. She also started on the back nine and dropped out of the lead with bogeys on her first two holes. On her second nine she birdied the par-4 6th and eagled the par-5 7th to get back to the top, and signed for a 67.

“I think the big difference was the wind,” said Choi. “Everything was similar, but just the wind. So I kind of struggled on like the front nine with the wind, but, yeah, I was okay with it afterwards.”

This is the third time Choi has held or shared the 36-hole lead. She is still looking for her first LPGA Tour title, having lost by a stroke to Ruoning Yin in Shanghai and then tied for second at the BMW Ladies Championship a week later.

Korda four back, Iwai close to a 59

Mai Saigo and Katsu are on 10-under. Gaby Lopez, Julia Lopez Ramirez and Ina Yoon share sixth on 9-under.

Nelly Korda began the day two shots off the lead after her opening 63. She made 15 straight pars before birdieing the 7th and is now on 8-under with Yuri Yoshida. Korda is one point short of the LPGA Hall of Fame, and a win this week would get her in.

“I had a lot of chances, I just struggled on the greens,” said Korda, who took 29 putts. “You could just tell from yesterday morning to today’s afternoon, it was just the wind. That’s what the defense of this golf course is. As the greens get kinda icy almost, it’s the fastest bermuda I’ve probably putted on in my career.”

Akie Iwai shot the low round of the day, a 9-under 61. She reached the 15th at 8-under for the round and needed three birdies in her last four holes for only the second 59 in LPGA Tour history. She birdied the 16th and no more, and sits on 7-under.

Defending champion Linn Grant followed her opening 68 with a 67 and is on 5-under. The cut fell at 1-under and 73 players made it. Brooke Henderson, Lilia Vu and Jennifer Kupcho all missed it.

Related: Nelly Korda Clinches 2026 Rolex Player of the Year With Three Events Remaining

The award takes Korda's LPGA Hall of Fame tally to 26 points. She is one short of induction, with The ANNIKA and the CME Group Tour Championship still to play.

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