Eun-Hee Ji held onto her lead at the Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship after carding a second-round 3-under 69 and sits one shot ahead of Rolex Rankings No. 2 Lydia Ko (67) and atop the leaderboard at 9-under par. The teenage duo of Charley Hull and Xi Yu Lin are tied for third at 7-under par and sit two shots back.

Ji held the first-round lead when she posted a 6-under 66 on Thursday. The 29-year old said she woke up on Friday with back stiffness that bothered her throughout the round.

“Actually I hurt my middle back today, this morning actually,” said Ji. “So this one, just bothering me on my swing, and especially with my driver. So I missed a lot of fairways today and so I just focus on my ball because my -- bothering my swing, so I don’t want to think about my swing. Keep my focus on my ball and I just be patient just like yesterday.”

The 2009 U.S. Women’s Open champ opened with two birdies on her first two holes but double bogeyed the par 5 sixth hole when she hit her tee shot out of bounds. She recovered with three-consecutive birdies on Nos. 9-11 to get to 9-under par and hung onto the lead with pars on her final seven holes.

Lydia Ko has put herself in position to make a run at her 10th career LPGA victory and also a shot to regain the world No. 1 ranking. Ko had seven birdies and two bogeys on the day.

“It was kind of a slow start,” said Ko. “I gave myself quite a few opportunities the first couple holes, and I didn’t make any. And then on the fifth hole, I holed a putt that I didn’t expect to make and then I hit a good shot into 6 and another good shot into 9. I had a couple that were like two feet, three or four of them. So that makes it a whole lot easier, and again, not reading the putt as much.”

Suzann Pettersen shot the low round of the day and matched Eun-Hee Ji’s first round of 66 to tie the low round of the week through 36 holes. The Norwegian moved from T43 to T7 and seeks her second victory of the 2015 season.

Eun-Hee Ji Leads Lydia Ko By One at Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship

Related Articles