Jodi Ewart Shadoff followed up her opening 64 with a 69 on Friday to increase her lead to four shots at 11-under in the LPGA Mediheal Championship.
Her 133 36-hole total is a new tournament scoring record besting Jessica Korda’s 138 at the Lake Merced Country Club in 2018. It also ties Ewart Shadoff’s second-best 36-hole score in her Tour career and is her lowest since the 2020 Dana Open where she scored a 130 and finished in a tie for second. This is the third time the Englishwoman has held a second-round lead/co-lead, and the first time since the 2020 LPGA Drive On Championship at Inverness.
“Playing really consistent, and I feel really in control of my game. Just staying in my routine and hitting some good shots, rolling in the putts, so everything seems to be going well so far.
“Nice couple birdies on 1 and 2, so that was a really nice start. Hit it really close on 4, so, 3-under through four holes is a very quick start. Turned at 4-under, so I was good. The wind started to pick up a little bit on the back nine, which is a little bit tricky, but, yeah, I played really well again today, and, yeah, hopefully do the same at the weekend.”
South African Paula Reto lies in solo second place at 7-under after carding a 70.
“I feel so good. I’m excited. I just love to compete a lot, so if I can play a tournament every week I would. I just have to really pace myself, but I’m excited,” said Reto. “I’m also excited for a good off-season. Like I said, just enjoy playing golf and enjoy competing. It’s kind of sad that we only have a few more events left.”
South Koreans Eun-Hee Ji (68) and Haeji Kang (69) share third place at 6-under with France’s Pauline Roussin (68), China’s Xiyu Lin (69) and Ruixin Lin (72), Mexico’s Gaby Lopez (70) and Northern Ireland‘s Stephanie Meadow (70).
