US star Lexi Thompson fired a bogey-free six-under-par 65 to stretch her lead to three strokes after Friday’s second round of the LPGA Kingsmill Championship, while Kaohsiung-born Candie Kung was third, aided by an eagle.
Thompson stood on 12-under 130 after 36 holes at the 6,430-yard Williamsburg, Virginia, layout with compatriot Gerina Piller second and world No. 1 Lydia Ko of New Zealand sharing third on 134 with Taiwanese Olympian Kung.
Fifth-ranked Thompson, one stroke in front of Piller when the day began, charged ahead with a birdie at the par-five third and added birdies at the par-four sixth and par-five seventh, then closed the front nine with another birdie.
Photo: AP
She added birdies at the par-four 14th and par-three 17th to pad her lead entering the weekend.
“You know, it’s just a good golf course for me,” she said. “I get to hit a lot of drivers, actually, a lot of three-woods out here as well. I just love the shape of the golf course. It’s in perfect shape for us once again this year. Probably best I’ve seen it.”
Kung had birdies on holes one, three, nine, 12 and 15, but dropped shots on five and eight.
Her eagle came on the par-four sixth hole.
Hsu Wei-ling was the only other Taiwanese left in the field, on three-under 139 after a second-round 70. Missing the cut were Chien Pei-yun, who shot a 77 to finish on 143 overall, Min Lee (74, 145), Cheng Ssu-chia (72, 150) and Yani Tseng (74, 151).
Piller stumbled late to fall back, but matched Thompson’s strong start with a birdie at the third, then three birdies in a row starting at the ninth. She made another at the par-five 15th, but bogeys at 16 and 18 sandwiched around a birdie at 17 kept her off the pace.
Ko, trying to fight off rivals and remain atop the rankings, fired a bogey-free 67, opening with a birdie on the par-four 10th, adding back-to-back birdies at the third and fourth, and another at the par-five seventh.
“Playing well. Was good to get confidence going into the weekend,” Ko said. “It was a pretty steady round. The front nine I gave myself a lot of looks for birdies and a lot of them really slipped by, but I feel like I’m putting good strokes on it. That’s all I can do at the end of the day.”
Additional reporting by staff writer
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