Sung a surprise co-leader at Lotte
Yu Jin Sung had it going so good Thursday that she couldn’t pick out one favorite shot in her round.
The only shot she could remember was the lone bad one.
A poor drive at 16 cost Sung the lead all to herself but couldn’t take away from a second consecutive 4-under 68 to move into a tie with Natthakritta Vongtaveelap at the halfway point of the LPGA Lotte Championship on Thursday at Hoakalei Country Club.
Sung caught fire at the turn, with five birdies over her next seven holes. Her drive on 16 entered the hazard and resulted in her only bogey, to drop back to 8 under in a tie with Vongtaveelap, a first-round co-leader, who shot 70.
“I played pretty well, so I didn’t really remember. They’re all good shots. I do remember the one shot that went into the hazard,” she said with a laugh. “It was really windy today and then just physical condition-wise, I’m still getting used to the jet lag, so it’s tough.”
Sung, one of five golfers in the field playing on a sponsor’s exemption, is a dark horse if there ever was one.
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One click on her player profile on the LPGA website takes the reader to a blank page. Her only two previous appearances on the LPGA Tour were a missed cut at the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open and a 42nd-place finish at the 2021 BMW Ladies Open held outside of Seoul.
She’s been a regular on the LPGA of Korea Tour since 2019. Her only win was in an event also sponsored by Lotte.
“Not much pressure, but the fact that I’m carrying the Korean flag and playing on the LPGA stage, I’m trying to put more focus on that,” she said. “Seems like my relationship with Lotte is pretty good. I’m hoping to continue to perform well at these events and do even better in the later rounds.”
Three of the top four after two rounds played in the morning Thursday, as the already heavy winds kicked up even harder again in the afternoon.
Vongtaveelap, who chipped in from a bunker on 18 to tie for the lead in the first round, posted a clean back nine with three birdies to get to 8 under after shooting over par on her opening nine.
It’s just her second round in the 70s on tour this season.
“Today my round was not really good, but OK. My putter today not really good,” said Vongtaveelap, 20, who turned pro in November. “I would say I didn’t practice before going on my round today, my putt, so it’s bad. But I would blame myself.”
Georgia Hall continued her recent torrid stretch on tour with another solid round of golf, shooting a 6-under 66 to sit in a tie with Linnea Strom one shot back at 7 under.
Hall, who has finished runner-up in her past two tournaments, has played the Lotte three previous times, with her best finish T35 last year.
Among players who have played at least 10 rounds on tour this season before this week, nobody has averaged more strokes gained total per round.
“I played OK. I know I left quite a few (shots) out there,” said Hall, who started the week third in the Race to the CME Globe standings. “I really took advantage of the par-5s today. I was quite aggressive on them and I had fairly easy chips to get up and down for birdie.”
Hall, who turned 27 on Wednesday, birdied the last three par-5s she played and finished without a bogey. She managed a quick dinner at Cheesecake Factory after finishing late before getting back to work this morning.
“I didn’t have (the) cheesecake. I was very good,” Hall said. “It’s a quick turnaround for me, so last night quick dinner. Just really a nice, chill evening.”
Storm, who at one point was tied for the lead before back-to-back bogeys, closed with a birdie on No. 9 to get to 7 under.
Christina Kim, who had to qualify to play in her first LPGA event of the season, holed out from 168 yards on the par-4 6th for eagle in her round of 67 to get into a three-way tie for third at 6 under.
Defending champion Hyo Joo Kim, who started the day two shots back in a tie for third, needed to get up and down from a bunker on 18 to make the cut of 2 over after closing bogey, double, quadruple before the par at 18. Her 7-over finish over the last four holes dropped her from a tie for eighth to a tie for 57th.
Five golfers withdrew from the tournament over the first two rounds, with three citing injury and two exiting early due to an illness.