The World’s No. 2 player, Norway’s Suzann Pettersen, retained the lead Friday at the World Ladies Championship after firing a second round bogey-free five-under 68 at the Mission Hills Resort Haikou in China.
Pettersen, who is the defending champion, sits at 11-under 135 at the halfway mark. She is two shots clear of a group of five players, tied for second place at nine-under 137, that includes the World’s No. 5 player, South Korean So Yeon Ryu.
Ryu started her day with a bogey at the Par-4 opening hole, but immediately gained that stroke back with a birdie at the Par-5 second. Her round also included two eagles, one of them holing out her approach shot at the Par-4 16th.
Also in the group tied for second is the 48-year-old Bristol, England native Trish Johnson. She remains in touch with the top of the leaderboard after shooting a five-under 68 to add to her opening four-under 69.
The remaining players in the five-way tie for second-place are South Korean Ye Na Chung (69), Nikki Campbell of Australia (67) and Frenchwoman Valentine Derrey (68).
Italy’s Diana Luna sits one shot behind that group in solo seventh-place after making a 10 shot differential from Thursday. She opened with a 74 yesterday and shot the low round of the day with a nine-under 64.
Her round included two eagles seven birdies and two bogeys. One of the eagles came just like Ryu did by holing out her approach shot at the Par-4 16th.
The World’s No. 1, Inbee Park followed her opening round of 69 with a 70 today and is now in a four-way tie for eighth-place at seven-under 139. In that group with her are top Amateur, 17-year-old Australian Minjee Lee (71), Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn (66) and France’s Gwladys Nocera (70).
In the team event, where scores are determined by the lowest aggregate for each pair representing their country, France (Derrey and Nocera) and South Korea (Ryu and Park) were tied for the lead on 276 at the halfway point.
Norway (Pettersen and Marianne Skarpnord) were third at 285, but with new tournament conditions this year, Norway was out of the race as Pettersen’s partner, Skarpnord, missed the cut by one stroke and will not play the weekend.
The cut fell at 149, three-over-par and 55 players, including four amateurs, will compete for the three individual, team and amateur titles being contested simultaneously over the weekend.