Lydia Ko Continues Tear at Tiburon Golf Membership, Leads CME Group Tour Champ by 5 | LPGA

Eighteen-time LPGA Tour winner Lydia Ko backed up her first-round 65 with a bogey-free, 6-under 66 on the CME Group Tour Championship to take a five-stroke lead after 36 holes. Her 131 is her lowest 36-hole rating because the Belief Golf Ladies’s Scottish Open in July, the place she posted a two-day complete of 130 and finally completed in a tie for fifth. Ko, who has solely missed one fairway over the previous two days, opened with pars on her first 5 holes, however notched two birdies on Nos. 6 and seven to get her spherical going. She went on to publish 4 extra birdies on her again 9, on 10, 11, 14 and 17, and had an unlucky lip out on the ultimate gap to shut together with her 66, her twenty seventh rating within the 60s in her final 35 rounds.

“I feel I stayed actually affected person on the market at present. Clearly not bogeying the primary was a greater begin than yesterday,” mentioned Ko. “However, with the wind path being fairly related and the energy being related, I felt like I already knew going into the day that it might be tough, however on the similar time as a result of I performed actually stable on the again 9, I knew that if I did make any errors, there have been birdie-able holes coming in.”

That is Ko’s eleventh time holding the 36-hole lead on Tour, and she or he has gone on to win in 4 of these earlier situations, together with this previous February on the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio. A victory would earn Ko her second Rolex Participant of the Yr honors, second consecutive Vare Trophy and a $2 million winner’s test, the most important in ladies’s golf, however she mentioned she is targeted on simply enjoying footloose and fancy-free with two rounds left.

“That is form of the aim for me this week is to not let one gap or one shot part me. That is the final match of the season. It is my ninth yr on Tour, so I need to end the season effectively and likewise simply need to end it with none regrets,” mentioned Ko. “You understand, simply enjoying freely on the market. I feel that is an enormous key for me.”

Main champion Hyo Joo Kim sits in solo second at -8 general, after carding 4 birdies and a single bogey that got here on No. 4 at Tiburon Golf Membership. Kim, who gained her fifth Tour title on the LOTTE Championship offered by Hoakalei in April, earned her greatest end on the season finale again in 2016 in her second look within the occasion, a tie for sixteenth. She’ll play within the ultimate group with buddy Ko on Saturday, trying to proceed with the consistency she’s seen the final two days in Naples.

“I feel after I play with somebody who I am near, it is going to positively be extra enjoyable,” mentioned Kim, who has recorded 4 top-five finishes in her previous eight occasions, courting again to the KPMG Ladies’s PGA Championship. “And if I am enjoying with a participant who’s enjoying effectively, I feel I can comply with that rhythm and likewise play effectively. So hopefully that is going to be the case tomorrow.”

4 gamers sit in a tie for third at -8, together with World No. 1 Nelly Korda. Korda went from a birdie on the primary gap to a bogey on No. 3, and notched three birdies on 6, 7 and 9 earlier than making the flip. 9 straight pars later, Korda’s 69 was sufficient to maintain her squarely within the combine as she chases the lead on Transferring Day.

“I’ve performed in windier situations. I’ve performed in British the place it has been more durable the place you’ll be able to’t even get the ball within the air as a result of it simply takes it a mile,” mentioned the Bradenton native. “Over time you play in these situations, the extra you be taught. I’ve grown up out right here, so yeah.”

LPGA Tour winners Jeongeun Lee6, Leona Maguire and Amy Yang are tied for seventh at -6, whereas eight gamers sit in a tie for tenth, together with this yr’s Rolex ANNIKA Main Award winner, Minjee Lee, who posted a 4-under 68.

“Once I began this morning, it was actually windy, so I feel I began with a string of pars after which made two birdies on the entrance 9 after which had three birdies and a bogey on the again 9,” mentioned Lee. “So, a fairly stable day. I want I birdied 17 and parred 18, but it surely’s golf. So hopefully get it tomorrow.”

Defending champion Jin Younger Ko is tied for forty ninth at +4 after a 3-over 75 on Friday, in a spherical that included two double bogeys on No. 2 and 15. Saturday play begins at 8 a.m. ET.