Taiwan’s Candie Kung and Teresa Lu continued their good runs to stay in medal contention after the second round of the women’s golf event at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Thursday.
Kung made six birdies, along with one bogey and one double-bogey, for a second-round score of three-under-par 68. She was sitting on a total of 135 and was tied in fifth place.
Lu grabbed five birdies on her way to an impressive four-under 67, with her two-day total of 137 putting her in a share of 11th place with three other players.
Photo: AP
Kung said that stiffness in her shoulder and neck had affected her performance
“My swing was off because of the stiffness, she said. “I thought it would be good just to make par.”
Lu said she benefited from her early start, belonging to the first group to tee off.
“We got started in the morning, and there was very little wind,” she said. “I was more relaxed than the previous day, and had my swings working to reach the greens.”
“We have two more rounds to go, so I will give everything I have got to move up the leaderboard, and try to win an Olympic medal here,” she added.
South Korea’s Inbee Park shot her second consecutive five-under-par 66 to top the leaderboard ahead of the US’ Stacy.
The 28-year-old Park, who missed two months of the season due to injuries, made five birdies in a bogey-free back nine to take a one-shot lead over Lewis in benign conditions.
“I was in the second to last group and we didn’t have much wind, which is very lucky,” Park said. “You’ve got to take advantage of those good conditions. We just don’t know what’s going to happen for the next two days.”
However, Park felt the real challenge was still to come.
“The next two rounds, I think everybody kind of knows the golf course and the real game begins,” the former world No. 1 said.
Twice major champion Lewis, who shot 70 in the opening round, carded an eight-under-par 63.
“The putter just got hot today,” the 31-year-old said. “I definitely hit it better today, but the putter was on fire. And then I hit some close and made some easy birdies coming in. I actually didn’t know what I shot at the end of the day. I was just kind of in the zone.”
Canada’s Brooke Henderson and Britain’s Charley Hull were also well placed to compete for the first gold medal in women’s golf since 1900 after shooting rounds of 63 and 66 respectively.
Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn, who led after the first round on Wednesday, fell down the leaderboard after shooting a second-round 71.
The medals will be awarded after the final round of play concludes later today.
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