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Moving to 11-under with a 3-under 69 that
featured four birdies and one bogey, Lee leads at the midway
point for the 11th time in her LPGA Tour career. It's her lowest
36-hole score since winning the 2022 U.S. Women's Open.
First-round leader Ashleigh Buhai of South Africa (73 on Friday)
and Alison Lee (72) are two shots back at 9-under entering the
weekend at Seowon Hills at Seowon Valley Country Club.
Minjee Lee birdied both par-5 holes on the back nine at Nos. 11
and 15, reaching the green in two at the latter. She capped her
round with another birdie at the 18th.
"Obviously the par-5s, a couple of them, you can really be quite
aggressive," she said. "... I just tried to take as much
advantage as I could when the wind was behind us. And obviously
the birdie on 18 was just like cherry on top. So it was nice to
finish on a good note."
Minjee Lee, 27, said it would be special to win in the country
where both her parents were born.
"I have a really deep heritage here. So I always love coming
back and playing," she said. "Being at the top of the
leaderboard is always nice, and being in contention is always my
goal. So hopefully I can have a great weekend."
Buhai was at 13-under through 12 holes before closing with four
bogeys on the final six holes, including three in a row at Nos.
13-15.
"I think that is one of the toughest days I've ever had on a
golf course in terms of the wind switching," Buhai said. "I've
never played any round where the wind just switched that much."
Defending champion Lydia Ko of Australia (69) and South Koreans
Jeongeun Lee6 (68) and Hae Ran Ryu (71) are tied for fourth and
three shots back of the leader.
Last week's Buick LPGA Shanghai winner Angel Yin is tied with
China's Yan Liu at 7-under, with Nelly Korda, France's Celine
Boutier and England's Jodi Ewart Shadoff sitting in a tie for
ninth at 6-under.
Rolex Rankings No. 1 Lilia Vu closed with a double bogey on No.
18 to settle for a second-round 76 and a tie for 57th at 1-over.
--Field Level Media
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