Canadian Brooke Henderson upstaged fellow teenager and birthday girl Lydia Ko by firing a tournament record seven-under 65 on Friday to take a two-shot lead at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.
The 17-year-old Henderson, a long hitter who still needs sponsor exemptions to enter tournaments, reeled off six birdies and an eagle to vault to the top of the leaderboard at nine-under.
Despite playing only her 10th tournament, Henderson said she was prepared for the weekend.
Photo: AFP
“I think I’m ready,” she said. “Yeah, 17 is young. As you’ve seen with Lydia Ko and Lexi Thompson and even Jessica Korda, there are a lot of great names that have been able to do it. I’m hoping that I’m one of them.”
South Korean Choi Na-yeon was alone in second place at seven-under, while Japan’s Sakura Yokomine and China’s Yueer Cindy Feng were joint third, three shots back at six-under at the Lake Merced Golf Course in San Francisco.
World No. 1 and defending champion Ko was serenaded by the galleries on her 18th birthday, but her game was off-key during an even-par 72 that left her at five-under.
Photo: AFP
“I really didn’t get anything going,” the New Zealander said. “When that happens, it’s really hard. You know, I would say the par-fives, you kind of need to take advantage of them. I didn’t position myself well in any of them, and that just makes it tough. Kind of feel like you’re already losing shots there.”
American Stacy Lewis shot a one-under-par 71 and sits five strokes off the pace at four-under.
Juli Inkster was the story of the opening round after the 54-year-old finished one shot out of the lead, but her second round 74 dropped her to two-over.
Michelle Wie endured her second consecutive over-par round, scraping out a 74 that has her five-over for the tournament and just above the cut.
Five Taiwanese players remained in the competition after the second round. The best placed was Hsu Wei-ling in a tie for 59th with a 72 to leave her on 145 overall.
Hou Yu-sang hit a 75 to be on 147, Hsieh Yu-ling had a second round of 74 to be on 148, Chen Meng-chu had a 75 for 148 and Candie Kung of the US also made 75 to leave her on 149.
Those cut were Yani Tseng, Chien Pei-yun, Min Lee, Tsai Pei-ying, Pan Yen-ling, Cheng Ssu-chia, Chen Szu-han, Yeh Hsin-ning, Babe Liu, Yu Han-hsuan, Hung Jo-hua, Kuo Ai-chen, Lin Tzu-chi and Shih Huei-ju.
Additional reporting by staff reporter
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