Frida Kinhult of Sweden fired a 4-under-par 67 on Saturday to claim the top spot after 36 holes at the ShopRite LPGA Classic in Galloway Township, N.J.
Kinhult sits at 9-under 133 and holds a one-shot lead over Lauren Coughlin, who jolted up the leaderboard with a 6-under 65 in the second round.
Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux (67) is tied for third with England’s Jodi Ewart Shadoff (67) at 7 under. Four more players sit in a tie for fifth, three shots back at 6 under.
First-round leader Stephanie Kyriacou of Australia shot 73 on Saturday and is tied for 14th at 4 under.
Kinhult, 22, played even golf before striking for four birdies in her last 11 holes. She played bogey-free golf in pursuit of her first LPGA victory.
“Game feels pretty good and I guess it fits this course,” Kinhult said. “Tomorrow anything can happen. I can’t go out and make pars; I’ll have to fight for my birdies tomorrow and try to get a low one to get a W.”
Coughlin started fast, beginning on the back nine. She carded birdies on her first two holes and finished with six en route to a clean round. Her biggest challenge was keeping her emotions in check as she climbed the leaderboard.
“I was trying not to look as best I could,” Coughlin said. “You know, kind of tend to get a little anxious when I look and see I’m doing well. Now it feels really good. … Today it finally just all clicked and the putts started going in.”
Lydia Ko also carded a 65 in the second round, vaulting into a tie for fifth, three shots behind the leaders. She shot 71 in her opening round.
“I actually didn’t play that bad yesterday. I think I made a lot of careless mistakes and I had a lot of wedges in hand and I felt like I kind of let the round become very mediocre, so I was a little disappointed,” Ko said. “Today … I was really patient out there and I putted really well, so hopefully kind of keep that momentum for tomorrow.”
–Field Level Media