On the heels of a new tournament course record, Sei Young Kim is in position for her seventh LPGA Tour victory at the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by ACER.
Kim shot a 10-under-par 61 in her second round – the last three holes of which she played Sunday morning after Saturday’s weather delay – which included 11 birdies and one bogey.
A trio of golfers held the previous tournament course record of 9-under par including Laura Davies and Jimin Kang (in 2005) and Karine Icher (2016).
Kim played the back nine first, and made five birdies in a row on No’s 15-1. Her previous low-round total on the LPGA Tour was a 62, which she shot earlier this year at the HSBC Women’s World Championship.
Kim said the key to her round was her putting.
“To shoot 10-under I feel like I was putting well,” she said.
Kim’s parents are with her this week in New Jersey and she said they help her with her stroke. She’s been working hard with them on her putting and it’s paid off.
Although it was difficult to take a break yesterday during the weather delay in the middle of a great round, she said she took a nap and got refreshed and tried to keep the same mindset both after the rain delay and after Saturday night, into this morning.
She clearly wasn’t impacted by the overnight delay, as she birdied two of the three holes she needed to complete Sunday morning.
“I feel like it was just steady,” she said. “I didn’t do anything exciting. It was just calm.”
She leads by two shots over Celine Herbin of France.
Su Oh of Australia, who also finished her second Sunday morning, is a shot further back at 9-under par.
Three golfers including Mariah Stackhouse, Ashleigh Buhai, and Annie Park sit a shot further back at 8-under and tied for fourth.
Sherman Santiwiwathanaphong, Paula Creamer, Mo Martin, Xiyu Lin, and Marina Alex round out the top 10. They sit tied for seventh at 7-under through two rounds.
Defending champion I.K. Kim sits tied for 12th alongside Leona Maguire of Ireland, who is making her LPGA Tour debut. Maguire and her twin sister Lisa (who missed the cut) announced they would be turning professional earlier this week.
Play resumed at 7:10 a.m. after being suspended due to darkness Saturday night.
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