Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn roared back to form with a superb eight-under-par 64 to claim a three-shot lead at the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open on Friday.
British Open champion Ariya limped out of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics last week after a knee injury derailed her bid for a medal after she had taken a first-round lead.
However, the talented 20-year-old rediscovered her best form in sunny conditions at Calgary’s Priddis Greens Golf and Country Club to storm to the top of the leaderboard.
Photo: Eric Bolte - USA Today
The Thai youngster, enjoying a breakthrough season with four victories and nine top-10 finishes, carded eight birdies and no bogeys in a flawless round which left her at 12-under for the tournament.
Ariya said her sore knee had improved gradually over the course of the week following her withdrawal in the third round in Rio.
“I feel like I am okay. I wanted to see how I am feeling. But after that, like on Monday, it did not hurt that much and today it is getting a lot better,” she said.
South Korea’s Chella Choi Woon-jung had started the day in sole possession of the lead, completing her weather-disrupted first round to finish with a seven-under-par 65.
However, Choi was unable to build on her lead in a roller-coaster second round, notching four birdies and three bogeys to finish with a one-under-par 71, four off the lead.
South Korea’s Chun In-gee was three behind Ariya on nine-under after a see-saw five-under-par round which included an eagle, six birdies and three bogeys.
Northern Ireland’s Stephanie Meadow — who lit up the first round with a 66 — was also three back after a second-round 69.
Five players finished the second round on eight-under, four adrift of the lead. They included New Zealand’s world No. 1 and defending champion Lydia Ko, who is gunning for her fourth victory in the tournament.
Ko appeared to be building a head of steam with four birdies in a row between the ninth and 12th holes to move to nine-under, but a bogey on the 14th checked her momentum as she finished the day four behind.
Taiwan’s Min Lee had a great day out on the course, carding five birdies for a second-round score of six-under-par 66, while Cheng Ssu-chia hit an even-par 72.
Hsu Wei-ling and Yani Tseng did not make the cut.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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