Shanshan Feng, arguably the hottest player on the LPGA Tour, used back-to-back birdies on the 17th and 18th to pull away from a crowded leaderboard during the 2nd round of the TOTO Japan Classic at Taiheiyo Club Minori Course in Ibarkabi.
Feng carded a course record 8-under 64 on moving day and vaulted from T7 into the 36-hole lead of the 54-hole event. The bogey free, 8-birdie round puts Feng in a great position to join Lydia Ko and Ariya Jutanugarn as back-to-back winners in 2016.
“Actually, I’ve never done that in my whole career,” Feng said. “I’ve won 16 times as a pro but I’ve never won back-to-back tournaments so it would be great if it happens but right now I’m not thinking about it. I’m just going to try and enjoy tomorrow.”
Ariya Jutanugarn has accomplished the feat twice this year, even winning 3 in a row (Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic, Kingsmill Championship Presented by JTBC and the LPGA Volvik Championship). Feng also has an opportunity to extend her streak of top-4 finishes to 6 events.
"Right now my confidence level is pretty high, I know how to score." Feng said following her course record round. "The reason why I struggled in the first half of the year, I was actually hitting the ball pretty well but I didn’t know how to score. Now the putting is working and even though I leave myself a 15-footer for birdie I feel comfortable to make it. So now I feel a lot more comfortable and confident on the course."
If back-to-back wins weren't already enough for Feng, she may have found another source of motivation during her trip to Japan.
"I went to Tokyo because I love Japanese food, I went to my favorite restaurants and went shopping and I spent some money on Monday so that’s why I have to try hard on the weekend to make the money back." Feng joked.
Ariya Jutanugarn looked as if she may pull away from the field on Saturday as she birdied 4 of her first 8 holes but bogeys on the 9th and 14th and some missed putts on the back-nine stymied that chance. She finds herself trailing Shanshan Feng by 1 shot heading into the final round.
"Front nine I made a lot of putts, so I made a few birdies." Jutanugarn commented following her round. "The back nine my putting wasn’t that good but overall it was pretty good, my putting was just ok today."
World No. 17 Suzann Pettersen carded a bogey-free 6-under 66 to move into a share of third place with opening round co-leader Soo-Yun Kang. Pettersen will join Feng and Jutanugarn in the final group on Sunday with a 9:52 a.m. tee-time. Final round play will begin at 7:40 a.m. local time off split tees.
Defending champion Sun-Ju Ahn, Jiyai Shin, Ha Na Jang and Jenny Shin sit 3-shots off the lead in a tie for fifth place.
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