BRADENTON, Fla. ā Nelly Korda birdied three of her final four holes on Friday to shoot a 4-under 67 and take a two-shot lead midway through the LPGA Drive On Championship.
Seeking her first LPGA Tour victory since 2022, the former world No. 1 was at 10-under 132 through 36 holes at Bradenton Country Club, a Donald Ross-designed course in her hometown that she hasn't played all that often.
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Korda got a big roar when she closed her round by hitting a 6-iron to about 6 feet for birdie on the par-3 ninth hole.
āItās honestly such a cool feeling,ā Korda said. āToday when we teed off, we had a really big crowd going down 1 too. Iāve definitely felt a lot of support. Hopefully, I can bring out more family and friends this weekend too to become louder.ā
So Mi Lee had the second-best round of the day, a 65. She was two shots back. Lydia Ko, who won last week's season opener and shared the first-round lead with Korda, was three shots behind after a 70, alongside Xiyu Lin (66) and Ayaka Furue (67).
āI did feel like I didnāt have my A-game, but still to shoot under par on a day where you donāt feel like itās as solid is a good place to be,ā Ko said.
Korda started on the back nine and bogeyed the par-4 fifth hole to fall to 1 under for the day. She followed with birdies on the par-5 sixth and eighth.
āI just knew that I could probably take advantage of the two par-5s. I knew I had two par-5s coming up, and if I had good drives, theyāre both reachable,ā Korda said. āEveryone is going to make mistakes. Itās all just about minimizing it.ā
Lexi Thompson was five shots back after a 67. Maja Stark had the low round of the day, a 64 that was a 12-shot improvement over her opening-round score, to make the cut with two shots to spare at 2 under.
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