Koreans fall off halfway through LPGA major
Kim Sei-young of Korea plays a shot from a bunker on the 18th hole during the second round of the AIG Women's Open at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club in Porthcawl, Wales, Aug. 1. Yonhap
Korean players are well off the pace at the halfway point of the final LPGA major of the season.
Kim Sei-young and Kim A-lim are the top Koreans through 36 holes at the AIG Women's Open at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club in Porthcawl, Wales, at three-under par, after the former shot a 70 and the latter carded a 71 in the second round Friday (local time).
They are tied for seventh place but sit eight strokes back of the leader, Miyu Yamashita of Japan, who pulled away from the field with a bogey-free 65 on Friday.
Another Japanese player, Rio Takeda, is alone in second place at eight-under, followed by four players at four-under.
Kim Sei-young, a 12-time LPGA winner with one major title, had four birdies and a bogey on the front nine but had two birdies, one bogey and one double bogey over her final nine holes.
She came into this tournament having recorded three top-10 finishes in her past five starts.
"I played quite solid today because I made a lot of pars," Kim said. "But on some holes, I made the same mistakes as yesterday and put my tee shots into bunkers."
With Yamashita so far ahead of her, Kim said: "What I can do is to just focus on every shot. I don't know what's going to happen in the future. I just want really strong focus on my pace."
Kim A-lim, a former U.S. Women's Open champion, had four birdies and three bogeys.
An Narin, at one-under, is the only other Korean player with an under-par score through 36 holes.
Two Korean players who had been tied for fourth place after the first round, Chun In-gee and Yoon Ina, both struggled mightily in the second round.
Chun, a three-time major champion, shot a 76 with four birdies, four bogeys and two double bogeys, dropping her down to a tie for 35th at one-over for the tournament.
Yoon, the 2025 tour rookie, missed the cut at five-over. She shot an 80 with six bogeys and one double bogey.