PHOENIX, Arizona: Park Sung-hyun, who has dethroned Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn as the world’s top golfer, shot her second straight 6-under 66 on Friday at the Founders Cup for a share of the lead with Yu Liu of China.
Coming off a victory three weeks ago in Singapore, the Korean birdied five of the first six holes on her final nine. She lost the outright lead with a bogey on the par-4 ninth. Liu had 10 birdies to card a 64 in the LPGA event.
The leaders are two strokes ahead of a crowded group of nine players at 10-under, including Lydia Ko, first-round leader Celine Boutier and Amy Yang.
Ariya and her sister Moriya are well back at 4 under, but veteran Pornanong Phatlum is at 8 under par and represents Thailand’s best hope. Pornanong has yet to win on the LPGA tour but has 27 career top-10 finishes and was runner up in a memorable Women’s British Open last year.
Liu said that “everything kind of clicked all together” for her in the second round, who admitted it’s not something she would expect to happen every day.
“When a day like this comes, I just am glad I was able to take advantage of it,” she said, adding that the chilly temperatures that greeted her group slowed her early.
“My putting definitely helped me a lot on the front nine,” she said. “On the back nine the weather warmed up and I was hitting it close and I was able to capitalize on those short- and mid-range birdie putts.”
Park came alive over her final nine, with birdies at five of six holes that included a run of four straight from the first through the fourth.
“Overall I’m really happy with the play today, especially the putting which was really good and the shots were better than yesterday,” she said.