Nelly Korda highlighted her 7-under-par 65 with an eagle on Friday as she charged to the lead midway through the Ford Championship in Chandler, Ariz.
Korda is at 16-under 128 through two rounds at the Cattail Course at Whirlwind Golf Club, her career-best 36-hole score.
She is two shots ahead of defending champion Hyo Joo Kim, as the South Korean followed her opening 61 with a 69. New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, the first-round leader after a career-low round of 60, stumbled to 71 on Friday and is in a tie for third place at 13 under.
Also at 13 under are Jenny Bae, who carded a 65 on Friday, and Japan’s Minami Katsu, who produced a 66 in the second round.
Korda, who won the Phoenix-area tournament two years ago at a different course, made four birdies on the front nine and had her lone bogey of the day at the par-3 sixth hole. She was still 3 under for the day before reaching the green in two on the par-5 12th hole and sinking a long eagle putt.
She added two more birdies before closing with consecutive pars.
“Overall hit (it) really good off the tee,” said Korda, who earned her 16th career LPGA win last month at the Tournament of Champions. “Took advantage where I could. Rolled in a nice eagle, too.
“Hit it nicely into the par-5s, which obviously is an advantage out here. But overall, you know, just I would say I have no complaints, yeah.”
Kim started poorly, going bogey-birdie-par-bogey, and she was 1 over for the day at the turn. She eagled the same hole as Korda and made two birdies without a bogey on the back nine.
“I felt like I bogeyed holes I shouldn’t have bogeyed in the beginning, so wasn’t super happy about that,” said Kim, who won the LPGA’s Northern California event last week. “But I knew I had remaining holes and birdie opportunities, so I tried my best to lower my score in the back.”
Ko’s inconsistent round featured four birdies and three bogeys.
“I just didn’t really hole many putts today,” Ko said. “I hit almost just the same amount of greens, so in that department I felt like it was solid. I was driving it pretty well.
“It’s obviously harder to get closer to the pins just playing in the afternoon and the greens being a little firmer. I think I struggled with a couple of the short ones, misreading a few. … But that’s golf, right? I can’t control everything. Yesterday was, I think, more of the surprise, I think just shooting a score like that.”
