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The 22-year-old American, who began the day one
stroke ahead of Chun In-gee of South Korea and Madelene Sagstrom
of Sweden, made five birdies and sank putts from 20 feet on the
second and 25 feet on the third to remain bogey free across the
round.
Korda, who fired a first-round 66 on Thursday, moved to 11-under
133 for the tournament, taking a 36-hole lead into the weekend
of a major for the first time in her career.
"I did not know what I was doing on those two holes," Korda
said. "My caddie Jason just said, okay, take a deep breath right
now, so I was happy those two went in.
"Golf is just about momentum, so you roll one in here and there
and it just makes it a lot easier.
South Korean Lee, who began the round in 19th, made seven
birdies and also remained bogey-free as she surged up the
leaderboard to second.
American Lexi Thompson and Denmark's Nanna Koerstz Madsen are
tied for third, four shots behind Korda.
Thompson, who has just one top-10 finish this year, said
re-uniting with childhood coach Jim McLean helped her find her
groove at Mission Hills Country Club.
"I worked with Jim for a week. He knew my swing better than
anybody growing up. I thought let's just go back to old Lexi and
see him. We changed a few things," said Thompson, who won the
tournament in 2014.
The ANA Inspiration is usually played in April but was pushed
back due to the COVID-19 pandemic and is being held without fans
in attendance.
The conditions are less than ideal at Rancho Mirage, with
temperatures expected to soar above 100°F (37.8°C) during the
tournament.
(Reporting by Arvind Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim Coghill)
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