A short eagle putt helped Xiyu Lin of China shoot an even-par 71 and hold the lead midway through the second round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship on Friday in Springfield, N.J.
Lin stood at 4-under 138 after opening with a 67 at Baltusrol Golf Club. She was alone at the top after first-round leader Lee-Anne Pace of South Africa made three bogeys over her final seven holes to drop to 3 under.
Pace carded a 73, as did Lin’s countrywoman Ruoning Yin, who was part of a tie for third at 2 under after the morning wave of golfers finished up.
Lin is ranked No. 14 in the world but has yet to win on the LPGA Tour. She started her day on the back nine and was 2 over through eight holes when she came to the par-5 18th — where she reached the green in two shots and had just 6 feet for her eagle.
That brought her to even for the day, and she had one birdie and one bogey to finish the round.
World No. 1 Jin Young Ko of South Korea birdied four of her first seven holes to shoot up the leaderboard to 3 under. She finished with a 2-under 69 and stood at 1-under 141 through two rounds.
Golfers just starting their rounds in the afternoon wave included Ayaka Furue of Japan (2 under through one round), Leona Maguire of Ireland (2 under), Rose Zhang (1 under) and defending champion In Gee Chun of South Korea (3 over). The top 70 and ties will make the cut.
–Field Level Media