South Korean Kim Song-hee shot her second consecutive four--under 68 yesterday to take a one-shot lead over defending champion and compatriot Choi Na-yeon at the LPGA Hana Bank Championship.
First-round co-leader, American Vicky Hurst, was one shot behind Choi at six-under with American Juli Inkster at five-under-par.
Taiwan’s Amy Hung followed up her first-round 69 with a disappointing 73 to tie for 13th place on two-under, while fellow Taiwanese Teresa Lu carded a 75 to drop down the leaderboard on five-over.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“I played really well in the early part of the round, but I struggled with my shots in the last part of the round,” Kim said, who has 20 top 10 finishes in her last 26 starts, but is still looking for her first win.
“I managed to overcome the adversity with my putting. I think I can play well tomorrow if I play the way I played today,” she said.
“I have never played with Na-yeon in the last round of any event. Since we are best friends, it’s going be like playing in the practice round. So I will have fun on the course with my best friend,” she said.
PHOTO: AFP
Choi said she had “confidence” now.
“I have a good feeling about my game. I felt that I lost focus on the last couple holes, so I’m going to go to the range and hit some balls and get more focus and confidence,” she said.
“I don’t care about results. I’ll do my best tomorrow. I want to just have fun with Song-hee. I can’t control results. I’ll just play my best,” Choi said.
The Koreans have never played a final round in the same pairing. Kim said it was going to be “a bit strange” playing with Choi in the final pairing, but added she wanted to enjoy her friend’s company.
Hurst, whose mother is Korean, said: “I started out hitting it really well and long, so I made a couple birdies on the par-fives.”
The tournament features the top 50 players from the LPGA money list along with the top 12 from the Korean tour.
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