Lydia Ko continues to amaze.

Seven strokes back of leader Sung Hyun Park to start the second round, Ko posted a 7-under par 65 on Friday at the LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship, including a birdie at the last to take the outright lead at 10-under par.

“When a player shoots 10-under, 7-under, 8-under, whatever, they had a great day and all you can do is play good golf yourself and just think about it, one shot at a time and see the closer you are to the leader, or if you're leading, the earlier, the better. Because if you are leading, you've got time where you can expand the lead and give yourself a little bit of breathing room I think,” Ko told the media after her round.

Ko is two for two when holding the 36-hole lead, going on to win both the 2015 ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open and 2012 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open after leading in round two.

“I think I put myself in good position,” said Ko. “But the weekend is where they say people try to go up the leaderboard. I'm just going to focus on one shot at a time tomorrow and just focus on my game, because I know there's going to be a lot of great golf from a lot of great players.”

Ko was grouped with one of those great players on Friday in World No.1 Inbee Park. The 18-year-old has two wins and a runner-up finish in her last three starts, which has closed the gap on Park’s lead in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings and Ko could retake the No.1 spot with a win this week.

“I don't think about the rankings or if one birdie is going to put me a couple shots in front of her. I don't think she was doing, I think she was doing the same, not thinking about all that,” said Ko. “I feel very fortunate that there is a great competitor like her where I can work harder and be as good as her or get to that ranking. But when we're out there, we are not thinking about it. I think for the crowds and for the media, it makes it really exciting when everything is close.”

Lexi Thompson will be grouped with Ko on moving day thanks to a second round 5-under par 67 that propelled her to within one of the lead at 9-under par. Just two years older than Ko, 20-year-old Thompson like so many others on Tour can’t help but be impressed by what Ko is accomplishing.

“It is amazing to see,” said Thompson. “I played with Lydia a lot on the LPGA Tour, and even since she was younger in the Australian Masters and Australian Open, and I knew she was going to be a great talent coming up the first time I ever played with her. Just goes to show, she has an overall very strong game, not many weakness, great ball-striker, kind of sneaky long and putts it and chips it like God.”

Already a winner earlier this season at the Meijer LPGA Classic, Thompson is looking to finish the season strong with another victory and enjoy a multiple win season for just the second time in her career.

“I've had a lot of consistent finishes, which I'm very happy with overall. In my off-season, that was my No. 1 goal, was play consistent golf and get the wins when they came,” said Thompson. “I have four more tournaments left after this, or three, and I go into every tournament wanting to win. But some good finishes. I'm playing in Naples where I'm going to have all my family there supporting me, so I'm really looking forward to it.”

First round leader Sung Hyun Park looked flawless on Thursday with an opening round 10-under par, 62 but struggled in round two with four bogeys in seven holes to give up the four stroke lead she held at the start of the day. Park posted a 2-over par, 74 on Friday to fall into a tie for third with Yoon-Ji Cho at 8-under par.

“I think it would be a lie to say that I didn't feel any pressure because of the record that I had set yesterday,” said Park after her round. “But as I mentioned yesterday, I was very satisfied with my play yesterday, and I did, as I also mentioned earlier, expect one of the days to be a bit rough or not go my way. So I'm trying to get over it today.”

Former World No.1 Yani Tseng and Mirim Lee are 5-under par and tied for fifth. The current top ranked player in the world, Inbee Park continued to struggle with the putter in round two, making it around in even par to remain at 3-under par and T-25.

A group of Americans including Alison Lee, Mo Martin, Jessica Korda, Michelle Wie and sponsor invite Juli Inkster are T-39 at 1-under par.

Lydia Ko Comes From Seven Strokes Back to Lead LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship

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