Ally Ewing shot a scorching, nine-under 63 to maneuver right into a tie with Australia’s Grace Kim for the lead on the Meijer LPGA Traditional in Belmont, as world No 1 Nelly Korda missed the minimize.
Ewing and Kim stand at 11 beneath after two journeys round Blythefield Nation Membership after Kim posted a 65 on Friday. They’re two pictures forward of Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen (64 Friday) and South Korea’s Narin An (68).
Korda could not get well from an opening-round 76. She shot a second spherical five-under 67 however missed the minimize line of two beneath by a single stroke, lacking her second straight minimize after profitable six of seven occasions.
“I’m very pleased with the way that I struck the ball today off the tee, something I’ve been struggling with this year,” Korda mentioned. “This was by far the perfect I’ve hit it off the tee, so somewhat little bit of positivity.
Ewing’s bogey-free spherical started with three birdies over her first 5 holes, and he or she chipped in for eagle on the par-five eighth gap. She sank 4 extra birdies coming residence, together with a brief putt on the par-three eleventh after a wonderful tee shot.
“I think you can make a lot of birdies out here,” Ewing mentioned. “At the same time, I approach a golf course with what it gives me, so I try to play smart but aggressive golf.”
The 31-year-old, who has three LPGA wins to her title, discovered her kind once more after tying for third on the US Girls’s Open two weeks in the past.
“Yeah, I think any time you get a good finish in any tournament, much less a major, you just see good golf for four days, definitely helps your confidence when you carry it over,” Ewing mentioned. “The golf ball doesn’t know what I did last week, but it’s still important to attack it but also have confidence with it.”
Kim began her spherical on the again 9 and likewise piled up three birdies over her first 5. After bogeying the seventeenth, she bounced again with an eagle on the par-five 18th. She added a remaining bang with three straight birdies from the sixth to eighth holes.
Kim mentioned the circumstances modified drastically for her after taking part in Thursday’s spherical in heavy wind.
“I think I was the second-lowest scorer of the day [Thursday] in the afternoon, and, yeah that says a lot of how tough the conditions were,” Kim mentioned. “But to be able to pull through and make a few more birdies, back-to-back birdies to finish my round, yeah, very much topped it off.”
Brooke Henderson of Canada, a two-time winner of this occasion, shot 69 Friday and is a part of a tie for fifth at eight beneath with Lauren Hartlage (69), Allison Corpuz (68), South Korea’s Jin Hee Im (65) and China’s Jing Yan (68).
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