South Korea’s Lee5 Jeong-eun fired six birdies in a five-under par 67 on Friday to grab a one-shot lead over Evian Championship winner Grace Kim and Gurleen Kaur in the second round of the LPGA Portland Classic.
Lee5, a 36-year-old chasing her first LPGA Tour title, thrived again at Edgewater Country Club, where she finished tied for second in 2021.
She rolled in five straight birdies from the fifth through the ninth, and added one more at 12 before her lone bogey of the day at 13, moving atop the leaderboard with a 12-under par total of 132.
Photo: Getty Images via AFP
Australia’s Kim, who won her first major title last month with a playoff victory at the Evian, had an eagle and six birdies in her seven-under 65 for 133 while Kaur posted a 68.
Lee — whose numeral 5 designation differentiates her from five other players with the same name — said she tried to stay patient in chilly morning conditions, but after a birdie at the par-five fifth she just rode the momentum and “great energy to continue making birdies until hole nine.”
She needed just 25 putts in a stellar performance on the greens.
“Honestly, all my birdie chances were a short putt, so I think that was the reason I was able to make those birdies and have a low putting stroke today,” she said.
Kim was not thrilled with her performance off the tee, but said her shots into the greens and putting “really backed up my game.”
“Had a lot of good range, mid-range to long putts today, so that was nice,” Kim said. “Just rolled it well.”
She teed off on 10 and had three birdies and a bogey in her first nine holes. After a birdie at the second she eagled the fifth, then closed with back-to-back birdies at eight and nine.
“This week is always a bit of a birdie fest,” Kim said. “Knowing that, I’m going to try not to get too ahead of myself and be greedy.”
Kaur also finished strong, closing birdie-birdie for a four-under 68 to join Kim on 11-under — one shot clear of Akie Iwai, Pajaree Anannarukarn and Ashleigh Buhai.
Overnight leader Adela Cernousek of France carded a three-over par 75 to fall seven shots off the pace.
LPGA Hall of Famer Juli Inkster, 65 and playing her first LPGA event since 2022 as she prepares for the US Women’s Senior Open, came up just shy of a slice of LPGA history.
She followed an opening 69 with a two-over 74 and missed breaking the record for oldest player to make an LPGA cut by one stroke.
Taiwanese Chen Pei-yun ended the day at 11th position, following up the first round’s 67 with a three-under 69 to finish at an eight-under-par 136 total. Compatriots Yani Tseng, Heather Lin and Min Lee did not make the cut after the second day.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday fought through a second-set slump to post a roller-coaster 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Damir Dzumhur in his opening match at the Cincinnati Open. The Spaniard, playing his first tournament since losing to Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon final, raced through the first set, but completely lost his way in the second, dropping his serve twice against the 33-year-old Bosnian. Alcaraz regained his intensity and cut down his errors in the third set as a seventh ace took him to a match point that was converted when Dzumhur fired wide. “It was just a roller coaster,” said the second
Defending champions Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday led the way into the Cincinnati Open quarter-finals, with Carlos Alcaraz hot on their heels after a straight-sets victory of his own. Sinner shrugged off a mid-match weather delay lasting nearly three hours as he advanced 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) over Adrian Mannarino. Alcaraz, the second seed who has reached the final in his past six tournaments, hammered Italian lucky loser Luca Nardi 6-1, 6-4. After sweeping the opening set in 28 minutes, Alcaraz hit a speed bump, dropping his serve to trail 2-4. He promptly regained the break, then fought through a marathon ninth game
Taiwan’s men’s basketball team on Monday clinched a spot in the FIBA Asia Cup quarter-finals with a 78-64 win over Jordan in Saudi Arabia, securing their best finish in the tournament since placing fourth in 2013. The win was sweet revenge for Taiwan, who were denied a quarter-final spot by Jordan at the same stage of the previous Asia Cup in 2022 after blowing a nine-point lead in the final minute and losing 97-96 on a half-court buzzer-beater. “History is part of the journey,” Taiwan head coach Gianluca Tucci said when asked about the 2022 collapse of the team, who he did
NEXT ROUND: World No. 1s Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka opened their title defenses with straight-sets wins, while Iga Swiatek and Taylor Fritz also advanced Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka got their title defenses off to smooth starts as they powered into the third round of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open on Saturday. The men’s and women’s top seeds, each ranked No. 1 in the world, were both competing for the first time since Wimbledon, where Sinner lifted the title and Sabalenka bowed out in the women’s semi-finals. Sinner crushed Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan 6-1, 6-1 in steamy afternoon weather, while Sabalenka beat 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 7-5, 6-1 under the lights of the night session. Sabalenka needed 54 minutes and a service break in the final game
RSS