Ryu, Henderson, Park Share 36-Hole Lead

It was a hot day at Kemper Lakes Golf Club.

Friday began with an excessive heat warning for the Chicagoland area, as temperatures quickly climbed into the mid 90s but felt well over 100 degrees. So Yeon Ryu, Brooke Henderson and Sung Hyun Park enjoyed a mild reprieve with morning tee times, which allowed them to take advantage of the last bit of moisture on the course before it evaporated in the afternoon heat.

Park, who held the solo lead on day one of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, managed to hang on to her spot at the top with a round of Even par, 72. After a nearly flawless round on day one with a 66 that earned her the outright lead, she hit just eight fairways and recorded 29 putts on Friday to finish the day right back where she started at 6-under par.

Henderson, who started the day one-back of Park, joined her at the top. But her patience was tested on Friday. She recorded four bogeys and five birdies en route to a 1-under par, 71. Thursday, the Canadian got off to a rough start with back-to-back bogeys, but she rallied with a round of 67. Henderson relied on that experience and the patience it taught her to remain in the hunt on Friday.

“It was kind of up-and-down all day,” said Henderson. “I would have liked to have shot a little bit better today, but 1-under when it was so hot and so windy, I'll take it.”

Ryu, who credited her putting for her move up the leaderboard, recorded one of the morning’s few sub-par rounds with a 3-under par, 69. She arrived at Kemper Lakes with renewed confidence after picking up her first win of the season two-weeks ago at the Meijer LPGA Classic. Getting that win eased the pressure Ryu was feeling to perform and has allowed her to play more freely, as she’s done this week.

“It's better to think about winning the tournament, better to keep telling yourself how confident you are,” Ryu said after her round. “I just really enjoyed every moment with my little golf ball out there. I think after I won the Meijer Classic, that's the attitude I have to have for this year.”

The cut line fell at three-over par, sending home several major champions including In Gee Chun (+5), Morgan Pressel (+6), Anna Nordqvist (+7) and Juli Inkster (+12).

Lydia Ko Swings During Round Two of KPMG Women's PGA Championship

Mission Accomplished

Lydia Ko’s main goal on Friday was to make the cut. It’s an unexpected goal for a former world No. 1 and two-time major champion. But after an unusual opening round that included 17 pars and one double bogey, Ko started the day at two-over par and outside the projected cut line.

Friday, she far exceeded her goal.

Ko recorded a 6-under par, 66, which included eight birdies and two bogeys, for the low round of the day. She climbed 81 spots up the leaderboard and sits just two-strokes back of the lead at 4-under par heading into the weekend.

“I tried to make as many birdies as I can, and I know it's difficult out there with the wind being a little bit more up than yesterday,” Ko said after her round. “My goal was to try to make the cut, so I think mission accomplished.”

This is the first time this season that Ko is contending in a major championship. She finished T20 at the ANA Inspiration and T49 at the U.S. Women’s Open. After overhauling her swing and her team for a second time during the off-season, Ko is beginning to find more confidence in her game with new instructor, Ted Oh. Their work began showing dividends in April when Ko won for the first time in nearly two years at the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship at Lake Merced, where she’s won multiple times in her career.

“It gave me a lot of confidence, and I felt like I was playing good golf, but I just felt I couldn't put it together,” Ko said about the win. “Going into that Sunday, I thought, if it's meant to be, it is, but I was just going to try my best out there and have a lot of fun, and I think that was a huge confidence booster for me.”

If she can keep her confidence up this weekend at Kemper Lakes, Ko could be declaring mission accomplished again on Sunday.

Birdies For The Birthday Girl

So Yeon Ryu celebrated her 28^th birthday in style, recording her second consecutive round of 69 to take a share of the lead at the season’s third major championship. The birthday girl recorded five birdies, including a chip in at the par 4, 5^th hole, to move to 6-under par heading into the weekend.

“That’s one of the best birthday gifts I ever got,” Ryu said about the chip.

Ryu played alongside Lydia Ko, who recorded the low round of the morning to also jump up the leaderboard. The pair went off in the morning wave and took advantage of the ideal scoring conditions. The fresh greens made for a purer roll than they experienced Thursday afternoon, which resulted in just 26 putts for Ryu.

“Today, literally Lydia made everything, so she just made look everything really easier,” Ryu said. “I was like, well, if she can do that, maybe I should do that, and then I started to make birdies on the back nine.”

And as she watched Ko go low on Friday, it made Ryu play more aggressive, which set her up for more birdie opportunities of her own.

“These days, it's really a matter of putting,” said Ryu. “I really appreciate what I have right now with my long game, and I just need to have confidence on the green. Right now, I feel really great on the putting green.”

There are two birthday presents Ryu can give herself on Sunday. The first would be to win the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, which would take the two-time major champion one step closer to achieving the career Grand Slam and one of her biggest goals. The second gift would require a win. If Ryu wins on Sunday, she could return to No. 1 in the Rolex Rankings.

“I really want to get back to that position,” Ryu said this week. “Hopefully I'm going to win this tournament and become No. 1 again, sooner than expected.”

Ryu held the No.1 ranking for 19 weeks in 2017.

Park Misses Cut, Opens Door For New No.1

Rolex Rankings No. 1 Inbee Park missed the cut at Kemper Lakes. The 7-time major champion posted rounds of 73-76 to finished outside the cut line, which fell at 3-over par. The three-time winner of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship will miss playing the weekend for just the second time in her career. Park finished in the top 10 in the season’s first two major championships including a runner-up finish at the ANA Inspiration, where she lost in a playoff to Pernilla Lindberg.

This week, the top-4 ranked players behind Park in the Rolex Rankings – No. 2 Ariya Jutanugarn, No. 3 Lexi Thompson, No. 4 Shanshan Feng and No. 5 So Yeon Ryu – all had a mathematical chance of overtaking Park. Click here for the possible scenarios.

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