SAMMAMISH – Sahalee Country Club served up a major caliber test on day two of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, leaving just five players in red figures at days end.
First round leader Brooke Henderson and Mirim Lee share the 36-hole lead at the season’s second major championship, braving tough and rainy conditions to take a one-stroke lead into the weekend. The pair is two-under par for the championship, ahead of a group at one-under par that includes world No.1 Lydia Ko, Gerina Piller and Brittany Lincicome.
Henderson began the day at four-under par with a two–stroke lead and without any players making a move into the top-10 during the morning wave, held the same lead when she teed off at 2:10 p.m. She extended her lead to three with a birdie at the par four, third hole but quickly gave it back and then some with back-to-back bogeys at the fourth and fifth holes. She dropped another shot at the turn to fall to two-under par. Henderson retook the outright lead with birdie at the par three, 17th but dropped a shot at the 18th hole after finding the bunker at the front of the green with her approach to fall into a share of the lead with Lee. Henderson carded a two-over par, 73 on Friday.
"I was 1-under through 4, I guess, and was feeling pretty good. I just -- I got a little too aggressive to a couple of pins early, which kind of cost me a couple of bogeys," Henderson told the media. "But I just regrouped a little bit and started to hit to the middle of the greens, which helped me score on the back nine. I hit a lot of really good putts today that just didn't fall. But I'm hoping that will change for tomorrow."
Click here to watch Henderson's post-round interview.
Click here to watch Henderson's second round highlights.
Lee, a two-time winner on Tour, carded one of the low rounds of the day with a two-under par, 69 to move from a share of 10th into a share of the lead with Henderson. Lee has posted two top-10 finishes so far this season but is playing a whole new game this week with a new caddie and new mental coach that have proven a positive change so far this week. Lee has three times held a share of the 36-hole lead on Tour, but has been unable to convert for the win. Her best major finish came in this event in 2014 when she finished T-6.
Click here to watch Lee's second round highlights.
Gerina Piller is once again in the hunt this season as one of the few players to card a sub-par round on Friday with a two-under par, 69. Despite not having her best game on Friday, hitting just 4 of 14 fairways and 10 of 18 greens, Piller sits just one back of the lead heading into the weekend.
“Yeah, you know, I just -- I don't really -- my ball-striking does not feel good right now,” Piller told the media. “And so I think that just kind of lowered the expectation. And just knew that I was going to probably hit some squirrelly shots, but if I can kind of keep it in front of me and if I'm out of position, and get back in position, I'm putting great, so I know if I can just get around the hole I have a chance to make par or birdie or save some shots there.”
Piller posted her best major finish at the ANA Inspiration earlier this season where she finished in a share of sixth.
Click here to watch Piller’s post-round interview.
Click here to watch Piller’s second round highlights.
Cheyenne Woods is having her best week of 2016. Despite missing the cut in seven of 11 events so far this season, the second year Tour member finds herself within striking distance heading into the weekend at Sahalee. Woods carded a second round one-under par, 70 to sit one-over par for the championship, just three strokes back of the lead.
Three-time defending champion Inbee Park missed the cut Friday, following her opening round 72 with an eight-over par, 79 to finish at nine-over par for the championship. While the world No.2 has battled a left thumb injury in recent weeks, Park says it wasn’t the thumb that gave her the most trouble on Friday but rather her swing.
“I just couldn’t get a rhythm of the swing. And I missed a lot of shots to the right. And it was just really frustrating and disappointing,” Park told the media. “I really thought that I could do it. I really thought that I can play really well this week. And I thought I was really ready, but I just wasn’t.”
Park says she plans to sit down and discuss with her team before deciding when she will make her next start on Tour.
The projected cut is expected to fall at seven over par, sending home Laura Davies, Morgan Pressel and Jessica Korda at eight-over par, as well as Na Yeon Choi and Paula Creamer at 10-over par and Michelle Wie at 16-over par.
Click here for scores from the second round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
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