January 21-24
Four Season Golf & Sports Club, Orlando, Florida
$1,200,000
Round 1, Round 3, Round 4

Danielle Kang shot a 6-under 65 in Friday's second round and built a two-stroke lead over Nelly Korda. Kang, who won twice in 2020 and led the Tour in scoring average, birdied the opening par-4 first to start her second consecutive bogey-free round, the only player in the LPGA Tour field yet to card a bogey.

“Like yesterday, I had a lot of fun out there today and made some good birdies,” said Kang, who played alongside MLB Hall of Famer John Smoltz and Grammy Award nominee Cole Swindell. “This golf course is kind of sneaky tough at the same time, so I just can't lose focus on certain shots. Three-putts are out there, too, which is scary. But I'm having a lot of fun.”

“Short game is something that I've been really focusing on, and iron game. This golf course, you have to put it in specific spots. I'm just trying to play smart. I've been here for three years now. I think I know where to capitalize and don't. I just got to stay extra focused.”

Following the 2020 CME Group Tour Championship, Korda returned to her old coach David Whelan and feels very “dialed in” with her ball striking. She missed just one fairway and one green in her second-round 5-under 66. Korda is looking for her first win since the 2019 Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA and her first victory on home soil.

“I was striking the ball really well today and I gave myself a lot of chances, and I converted a couple here and there. I made one kind of stupid bogey, a three-putt. Other than that, I hit it really solid.”

Defending champion Gaby Lopez and two-time major champion In Gee Chun are tied for third at -9, with Korda's older sister Jessica Korda rounding out the top five at -8.

In the celebrity competition, former tennis player Mardy Fish leads the field at +78, followed by New York Yankees center fielder Aaron Hicks and retired Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Josh Scobee at +73. Two-time defending celebrity champion John Smoltz heads into the weekend in sixth at +68. The celebrity competition is played under a Modified Stableford scoring system.