Dani Holmqvist of Sweden fired a 4-under 67 on Saturday to remain atop the leaderboard after two rounds of action at the ShopRite LPGA Classic in Galloway, N.J.
Holmqvist carded a first-round 64 to take an early lead and held on to it with seven birdies and three bogeys on Saturday at Seaview Golf Club’s Bay Course. She now sits at 11-under 131 for the tournament, one stroke ahead of South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim, who posted a second-round 65.
“Just try and do the same thing, as cliche as that sounds,” Holmqvist said of how she plans to handle the final round on Sunday. “Just try and stay in my own bubble and picture the flights and just fall in love with those and just try and execute as good as I can.”
With her performance, Holmqvist finds herself leading after 36 holes for the first time since the 2020 AIG Women’s Open. However, things quickly took a turn for the worst at that event, and Holmqvist ended up finishing tied for 29th.
“I hope it turns out better than it did that time,” Holmqvist said. “You know, I think there are so many good and talented players in this field, and it’s going to be low scores. Only thing I can do is try to do the best that I possibly can and, hopefully, that’s enough.”
Kim stayed in contention by racking up eight birdies against a pair of bogeys on Saturday. South African Ashleigh Buhai was equally as impressive, notching seven birdies and a bogey en route to a 6-under 65 that kept her in third place.
Brianna Do had seven birdies during a bogey-free showing, giving her the low round of the day at 64. She skyrocketed on the leaderboard, moving up 49 spots into a six-way tie for fourth.
“I don’t think it’s like really hit me yet because I literally just finished and got out of the scoring tent, so I haven’t really checked scores,” Do said of her positioning. “I got a glimpse of the scoreboard on the last (hole), so I think it’s pretty cool.”
Joining Do in fourth are Finland’s Matilda Castren (67 on Saturday), Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand (67), German Chiara Noja (67), South Korea’s Jenny Shin (70) and Yan Liu of China (70).
Defending champion Brooke M. Henderson of Canada shot a 70 on Saturday and is in a tie for 27th at 3-under 139.
–Field Level Media