Minjee Lee leading after windy day

BMW Ladies Championship R2

The wind swirled all day at the BMW Ladies Championship resulting in a scoring average slightly over par on Friday. Minjee Lee emerged with a two-shot lead at the halfway mark.

Starting the day two shots back of South African Ashleigh Buhai’s 10-under mark after a first-round 64, the Australian took some time to adjust to the conditions, opening with four-straight pars until an unfortunate bogey on the par-4 fifth, but cleaned it up on the seventh after knocking it close to the pin to card her first birdie of Friday. She got a handle on the winds on the back nine, notching two more birdies on No. 11 and 15 after reaching the green in two on the par 5. One last birdie on the closing hole had her signing for a 3-under 69, and recording her lowest 36-hole score since her victory at the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open

“Obviously the par-5s, a couple of them, you can really be quite aggressive. And I got on for two on — what is it, like 15? So that was nice. It was a two-putt birdie. And the — I got pretty close, I just tugged it a little bit, but I only had like a 40-meter shot into the par-5 before. So I think I just tried to take as much advantage as I could when the wind was behind us,” said Lee. “And obviously the birdie on 18 was just like cherry on top. So it was nice to finish on a good note.

“Being at the top of the leaderboard is always nice, and being in contention is always my goal. So hopefully I can have a great weekend.”

The 18-hole leader Buhai followed up a first-round 62 with a 1-over 73 on Friday to sit a tie for second with American Alison Lee at 9-under. Buhai started strong, posting three birdies in her first 11 holes on No. 2, 8 and 11, hitting every green in regulation and fairway through that stretch. But four bogeys in her closing six holes, including three straight on Nos. 13-15, derailed her chances of keeping the BMW Ladies Championship lead.

“I think that is one of the toughest days I’ve ever had on a golf course in terms of the wind switching. I’ve never played any round where the wind just switched that much. I think I did really well on the front nine. Stayed very patient,” said Buhai. “And I did the same on the back nine, and it was just the case of I picked a shot and the wind literally switched. So, you know, I did what I intended to do. I committed to my swing thoughts, and that’s all I can do.”

Sitting in fourth and three shots back of Lee’s lead is defending champion Lydia Ko of New Zealand along with Koreans Jeongeun Lee6 and Hae Ran Ryu, who all shot under par rounds on day two to get to 8-under.

“I think nothing was working for me today, not at all. But at least I got two birdies when I thought I wasn’t going to get any,” said Ryu. “I think towards the end my iron shot got better, but the wind was really weird today, so it was really difficult to make any birdie opportunities. So I was happy to get the first one. And the second one was a par-5, so, you know, there was absolutely no question that I had to get a birdie there.”

Pos.PlayerTo ParR1R2Total
1Minjee Lee-116469133
T2Alison Lee-96372135
T2Ashleigh Buhai-96273135
T4Jeongeun Lee6-86868136
T4Lydia Ko-86769136
T4Hae Ran Ryu-86571136
T7Angel Yin-76968137
T7Yan Liu-76671137
T9Nelly Korda-67068138
T9Celine Boutier-66672138
T9Jodi Ewart Shadoff-66573138
T12A Lim Kim-57069139
T12Hannah Green-56970139
T12Jenny Shin-56970139
T12Brooke M. Henderson-56871139
T12Hyo Joo Kim-56871139
T12Lauren Coughlin-56772139
T12Hinako Shibuno-56772139
T12Maja Stark-56574139
T12Ayaka Furue-56475139
T21Allisen Corpuz-46971140
T21Jiyai Shin-46971140
T21Megan Khang-46773140
T21Ruoning Yin-46575140
T25Yuka Saso-37269141
T25Eun-Hee Ji-37170141
T25Pajaree Anannarukarn-37170141
T25Atthaya Thitikul-37071141
T25Gaby Lopez-37071141
T25Madelene Sagstrom-36972141
T25Amy Yang-36972141
T25Linnea Strom-36972141
T25Stephanie Kyriacou-36873141
T34Ariya Jutanugarn-27270142
T34In Gee Chun-27171142
T34Hee Young Park-27171142
T34Jieun Seo (a)-27171142
T34Linn Grant-27072142
T34Andrea Lee-27072142
T34Sarah Schmelzel-27072142
T34Patty Tavatanakit-27072142
T34Seojin Park (a)-26874142
T34Alexa Pano-26874142
T44Jin Young Ko-17469143
T44Georgia Hall-17370143
T44Hye-Jin Choi-17271143
T44Nasa Hataoka-17271143
T44Mi Hyang Lee-17172143
T44Moriya Jutanugarn-17073143
T44Esther Henseleit-16974143
T44Narin An-16875143
T52Rose ZhangPar7470144
T52Yu LiuPar7272144
T52Grace KimPar7272144
T52Nanna Koerstz MadsenPar7074144
T52Aditi AshokPar6975144
T57Sung Hyun Park+17273145
T57Sarah Kemp+16976145
T57Lilia Vu+16976145
T57Gemma Dryburgh+16877145
T57Stephanie Meadow+16778145
T62Carlota Ciganda+27571146
T62Soomin Oh (a)+27175146
T62Perrine Delacour+27175146
T62Albane Valenzuela+27076146
T66Ryann O'Toole+37671147
T66Olivia Cowan+37374147
T66Jennifer Kupcho+37176147
T66Peiyun Chien+37077147
70Chanettee Wannasaen+47276148
T71So Yeon Ryu+57376149
T71Celine Borge+57376149
T71Sei Young Kim+56980149
T74Matilda Castren+67377150
T74Danielle Kang+67278150
T74Maria Fassi+67278150
77Dabeen Yun (a)+217887165
W/DAnna Nordqvist69
Updated: October 20, 2023
BMW Ladies Championship 2023
Date: 19th October - 22nd October, 2023
Location: Seowon Hills at Seowon Valley Country Club,| Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
Purse: $2,200,000