Update 7:51pm ET - Round two of the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic resumed at 6:45pm CT.
UPDATE 6:33pm ET - Play was suspended at 5:09pm CT during round two of the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic due to lightning in the area. Players have been evacuated from the course. An update will be provided as soon as it is determined whether or not play will resume this evening.
Austin Ernst jumped to the top of the leaderboard Friday afternoon at the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic. Ernst had a rollercoaster day that included eight birdies, three bogeys and an eagle en route to a 7-under par, 65. At 9-under par, Ernst holds a one-stroke lead ahead of her playing partner today, Lexi Thompson. The two fed off each other to make a combined 13 birdies and an eagle in round two.
"We both had a string of birdies there on the front nine. She was hitting it well," Ernst said Friday. "Yesterday we actually said, I said something to her after we finished, I don't think either one of us missed a green yesterday, so we're like let's just putt better tomorrow and we'll shoot a low number. She shot like five or six and I shot I think seven. So definitely when you see putts going in with other people, too, I think it just kind of gives you a little bit more confidence that you can just take it deep."
For much of the day Thompson held the outright lead or shared it with Ernst. Thompson posted a bogey-free, 5-under par, 67 in round two to climb to 8-under par, one back of Ernst. She has had success on this track for several years, winning on the Senator Course in 2011 for her first victory on the LPGA Tour and finished runner-up in 2012.
“It helps knowing the golf course really well. I've come back to this tournament many years,” Thompson said after her round Friday. “I always love coming to Alabama and playing this golf course. It's probably in the best shape I've seen it, especially the greens are rolling really well. Every golf course changes every year, so just got to keep on learning.”
Round one leader Brittany Lang teed off at 2:06 ET and birdied her first hole to climb within one shot of the lead at 8-under par. 2012 champion Stacy Lewis teed off in the afternoon wave and is off to a hot start, making birdie on her first two holes to climb into a tie for 10th at 4-under par.
The projected cut is currently 2-over par.
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