Hyo Joo Kim held on to the lead at the Ascendant LPGA benefiting Volunteers of America after carding a 68 to reach 10-under, extending her first-round lead into the second day for the first time since 2016.
“You can get a lot of bogeys here because the course is tough,” said the Korean player. “My putting stroke wasn’t bad yesterday and today so I think I got a lot of good saves. I hope to limit as many mistakes as possible in the remaining rounds as well.”
Rookie Sofia Garcia from Paraguay also closed with a 68, making only her fourth cut this season and posting back-to-back rounds in the 60s. She chipped in twice during her second round to put herself in position to chase Kim and has made only one bogey in two rounds, the least in the field.
“The golf course for sure is a challenging one, and strategic,” she said. “The weather was nice both days. More than having an advantage of knowing the golf course it's just being mentally prepared to be patient. I think sometimes we get a bit worked out and knowing how the golf course and working with my caddie in the sense of, okay, we have a plan and we're going to stick to it, that kind of helps; being familiar and being consistent with what we want to do.”
American Lexi Thompson (65) and France's Celine Boutier (67) are tied in third place at 6-under.
Ireland's Leona Maguire (67) almost doubled her birdie count round to round, carding five including four on her back nine to move into a share of fifth place at 5-under alongside Puerto Rico's Maria Torres (68), American Marina Alex (70) and Spain's Azahara Munoz (71).
