Khang goes low
Megan Khang isn’t afraid to go low, and she showed it again Friday at the Cambia Portland Classic.
Khang, who started the day six shots back of the lead, shot a 7-under-par 65 Friday to zip up the leaderboard into a tie for third. Her round included five birdies and an eagle.
She said she had a good day with her caddie, who kept her patient and focused on the task-at-hand.
“Definitely gave myself a lot of opportunities, and luckily a few of them dropped, and just kind of kept that mentality for the rest of the day,” said Khang. “I didn't try to get ahead of myself, and we just kind of bantered back and forth about other things than golf.”
One of Khang’s four top-10 finishes in 2017 came in Portland. She said it was good to remind herself that she could play well at Columbia Edgewater Country Club.
Being in the Pacific Northwest gives her good vibes.
“It kind of reminds me of being at home with the whole tree line and the same kind of grass. I think that kind of aspect definitely helps me play out here,” she explained. “I think, that being said, I can just play my own game, just like I do back home.”
Khang has shot 7-under on one other occasion this year and her lowest round of the year is an 8-under-par 64 (Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic – first round).
She sits four shots back of the lead held by Georgia Hall going into the weekend.
Lee in solid position
Minjee Lee kept the pedal down Friday, shooting a 4-under-par 68, and sits at 12-under par heading into the weekend.
Lee, who sits third on the Race to the CME Globe, made six birdies and two bogeys Friday. She came into the week off a tie for fourth at the CP Women’s Open – her 10th top-10 finish of the year. Lee won the LPGA Volvik Championship in May.
Lee said nothing really stood out to her Friday in terms of what was going well, but “all around it was OK,” she explained. She scrambled well, she said, and took advantage of the shots she did hit close. She hit 15/18 greens and 11/14 fairways on Friday.
She took 30 putts, however, and admitted that’s an area she’s going to work on going into the weekend.
“Probably just (need to) get my speed of the green a little bit more dialed in, and I was hitting it a little bit too hard, I think, and the greens are fast,” she said.
The 22-year-old has won four times on the LPGA Tour, but has not yet captured a major. She said it would be a big confidence booster if she were able to nab the title in Portland before heading to The Evian Championship.
“Obviously it would be nice to win this week, especially going into the major,” she said.
Henderson in contention again
Although not the round she would have liked after starting so well Thursday, Brooke Henderson is still in a competitive spot heading into the weekend.
Henderson, who won last week’s CP Women’s Open on home soil, shot a 1-under-par 71 Friday after an 8-under-par 64 on Thursday. Her 9-under total through two rounds puts her six shots back of Georgia Hall’s lead.
Henderson started on the back nine and was 2-over after five holes. She said she fought back the rest of the day to get it under par.
“I'm happy with 1-under. I would have obviously liked to have been better today and get up the leaderboard a little bit more, but I just felt like I kind of battled my way through today, and I feel like I did a good job of that,” she said.
Henderson admitted she didn’t feel well Friday morning and was “fighting everything out there” once she got on the golf course. She decided to forgo practice Friday afternoon and instead decided to rest and tour around Portland.
Henderson won this event in both 2015 and 2016.
Stupples feeling accomplished
Although it wasn’t the end to the week she would have liked, Karen Stupples is leaving Portland with her head held high.
Stupples, a two-time winner on the LPGA Tour, received a sponsor exemption into this week’s Cambia Portland Classic. It was her first tournament on the LPGA Tour since 2016, as she’s been a broadcaster with the Golf Channel for a few years now. She had no real expectations going into the week (she told LPGA.com she was home only three days the last 11 weeks) but she shot a very respectable 1-under-par 71 on Thursday.
She couldn’t sustain that momentum into Friday, shooting a 7-over-par 79.
However, she was pleased with her performance overall.
“I accomplished what I set out to at the start of the week, which was to prove to myself that I still had potential to play,” she said.
The last time Stupples played in Portland was five years ago. She’s quite a different person than the last time she teed it up at Columbia Edgewater, and she’s filled with perspective.
“This is just so happy… and I've replaced bad memories with some really happy times, and I've smelt the roses along the way,” she said. “I'm just seeing it with open eyes. The one thing I do wish is I wish I had played every single LPGA event of my career the way I played this one, with the same joy of just being able to take part.”
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