Jutanugarn grabs lead, eyes fifth title of the year

[August 27, 2016]    (Reuters) - Thailand's Ariya Jutanugarn set her sights on a fifth victory this year as she moved to a three-stroke lead after the second round of the Canadian Women’s Open on Friday. Jutanugarn completed the final two holes of her delayed first round in the morning, where she finished at four-under-par, then fired a bogey-free eight-under-par 64 in the second round to move to 12-under and take command.

Ariya Jutanugarn (THA) of Thailand watches her tee shot on the 14th hole during second round women's Olympic golf competition. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

South Korea's Chun In-Gee (67) and Northern Ireland's Stephanie Meadow (69) trail her at nine-under.

The second ranked player in the world, Jutanugarn won the Women's British Open in her last event but withdrew from the third round at the Rio Olympics with a knee injury.

The knee didn't appear to bother her on the way to a red-hot second round.

"So I know I hurt my knee, so that's why I didn't play very good on the third round (in the Olympics)," Jutanugarn told reporters.

"And after the draw I just felt OK. I just had to rest and take care of my knee. So after that I feel like just play golf, and it didn't feel like anything changed." World number one Lydia Ko, seeking her fourth Canadian Women’s Open, is four shots behind at eight-under-par after shooting a three-under 69 in the second round.

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(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; editing gy Amlan Chakraborty)

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