South Korea’s Ilhee Lee shot a six-under-par 65 on Friday to maintain her one-stroke lead at the halfway point of the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia being played at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club East Course.
Lee, who earned her first career victory at the weather-shortened Pure Silk- Bahamas LPGA Classic last May, currently sits at 13-under 129 through 36 holes. She is one shot ahead of American Lexi Thompson, who carded the second-lowest round of the day, a 63, and leap-frogged into second place at 12-under 130.
China’s Shanshan Feng, fresh off her home country win last week at the Reignwood LPGA Classic, shot a 65 and moved into solo third place at 10-under 132.
Lee never relinquished her one-stroke overnight lead on Friday, carding five birdies during her bogey-free outward nine to increase her advantage to three.
After a par at No. 10, the 24-year-old Lee pushed the margin to four at the 11th when she chipped in for birdie to reach 13-under. Feng was alone in second place at that point, as she reeled off five birdies over her first 11 holes, but Thompson supplanted her with a scintillating run from the 12th.
Thompson was six-under for the tournament when she entered No. 12. Five holes later, she was 12-under. Over that span, Thompson went birdie/birdie/eagle/birdie/birdie, capping the stretch with a four-footer at the 16th to pull within one of Lee, who birdied the 13th.
Lee stumbled to her first bogey of the tournament at the Par-5 16th when she found a greenside bunker with her third shot and failed to get up-and-down, allowing Thompson to move within a stroke, where she remained after both players parred their final two holes.
American Paula Creamer (67) and South Korean I.K. Kim (66) share fourth place at nine-under, good enough to be one stroke ahead of Amy Yang (62) and Mamiko Higa (66). Yang's 62 marked the low score of the second round.
World No. 2 Suzann Pettersen (68) is tied for eighth with Cristie Kerr (68) and So Yeon Ryu (65) at seven-under, rounding up the players sitting inside the Top 10 midway.
Defending champion and world No. 1 Inbee Park, a six-time winner this season, shot even-par 71. She is tied for 39th place at one-under 141. Her quest to successfully defend a title for the first time in her career has a very steep hill ahead on Saturday and Sunday.
World No. 3 Stacy Lewis is tied for 16th at five-under after shooting a 68 on Friday. The Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia is the second of five consecutive events in Asia for the LPGA Tour on what could be called the Asian swing of the Tour. There is no cut at this tournament.