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 Thompson carded four birdies in her last seven holes, including
three in a row from the 12th, to shoot a four-under-68 and jump to
seven-under for the tournament in the first major championship of
the year.
The 21-year-old joined overnight leader Ai Miyazato atop the
leaderboard at Mission Hills Country Club after the Japanese former
world number one mixed five birdies and three bogeys on her way to a
round of 70.
Six players sit just one shot off the pace, including New Zealand's
world number one Lydia Ko, who shot a 68 to go with her first round
70.
American Lizette Salas (67), Norway’s Suzann Pettersen (67), Koreans
Park Sung-hyun (67) and Chun In-gee (69) and South African Lee-Anne
Pace (70) also shared third place on a packed leaderboard with 19
players within three shots of the lead.
 Thompson, who sat in a similar position in 2014 before going on to
win the title, changed putters in the lead up to the tournament
after a poor result in last week's Kia Classic.
"I started practising with it Tuesday and putted with it an hour and
a half a day to get comfortable with it but honestly 20 minutes into
it I knew it was good," Thompson told reporters.
"Coming off last week, just how it went for me and I knew where my
confidence was I needed a change. It couldn't get any worse. I tried
it here and it felt amazing."
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The seven-times LPGA tour winner was particularly impressed with her
finish in tough conditions.
"The rough is the highest I have ever seen it but that is what
majors call for, tight fairways, thick rough and firm greens," she
said.
"That's what you get here. I hit a few wayward shots but I recovered
well and that’s what you have to do at majors."
Spain's Azahara Munoz, who held the overnight lead with Miyazato,
tumbled down the boards with a 78 to drop to one-over and a share of
48th.
(Reporting by Ben Everill in Los Angeles, Editing by Nick Mulvenney)
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