Korda takes Reignwood Classic lead
Jessica Korda shot a 5-under 68 on the Nicklaus Course at Pine Valley Golf Club in Beijing Friday to take the second-round lead in the Reignwood LPGA Classic.
Korda, No. 26 in the Rolex Rankings, leads China native and No. 9 Shanshan Feng and No. 3 Stacy Lewis by two shots. Korda is at 14-under overall after two days.
First-round co-leader Na Yeon Choi is three shots back after shooting a 71. No. 1-ranked Inbee Park's 69 put her in fifth place at 9-under par.
After starting out 1-over through five holes, Korda birdied three straight holes. On the back nine, she had no bogeys and three more birdies.
"I started a little slow today, but all in all I think it was a great day," Korda said. "I putted really well, just kind of did the same things I was doing the first day. A little different score, but I'm not really disappointed with that."
Feng's 64 was the low round of the day. Her round included no bogeys. She was much more relaxed Friday playing in front of her home crowd than in the first round.
"I think yesterday I did play under pressure because I wanted to do well, but actually I think the pressure made me like couldn't give it my all, and today I was like 'I'm going to give it all,' " Feng said. "I mean, this is the time. So I tried my best on every shot. Of course, I did miss a few birdie putts, but I made nine birdies with no bogeys, so I think that was a great round."
Lewis, an American, has yet to bogey through 36 holes. Friday, she birdied six straight times on the back nine.
"I got off to a little bit of a rough start, kind of got impatient on the greens and didn't birdie the par-5s like I needed to," Lewis said. "I don't know, I hit it close on the par-5s and made two pretty decent putts after that and kind of got things going in the right direction. Like I said yesterday, at the end of this golf course you can make some birdies, so I just need to stay patient and keep hanging in there."
