Lee Joo-mi takes sole 2nd-day lead at MEDIHEAL-Hankook Ilbo Championship

Lee Joo-mi reads the green on the 10th hole during the second round of the MEDIHEAL-Hankook Ilbo Championship at the Ferrum Club in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, April 14. Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoon

By Kim Jeong-kyoo

Standing on the center stage on Friday were Lee Joo-mi and defending champion Park Ji-young.

Lee supplanted the summit of the second-round leaderboard while Park carded an awesome seven-under 65 for a three-way tie for third place.

As the second round resumed at 7 a.m., Korean golf fans' major concern was whether rookie Kim Min-byeol could extend her three-shot lead over Lee Joo-mi and Roh Seung-hui or stumble and fall.

Kim started her round early on the back nine at 7 a.m. Golf fans were sorry that they could not watch her game on TV. At first, she showed her mettle with a sublime display of shot-making. She never let her fans down, extending her lead to four shots. She looked to remain steady until she incurred two successive bogeys.

Kim rattled off her first birdie of the day on the 557-yard par-5 12th hole. After whacking a long 252.7-yard tee shot, she hit her 120-yard approach to about five yards, setting up a putt for a birdie. She rolled it in to extend her lead to four strokes. Surprisingly, she curled in a long, tricky 9.5-yard putt at the 13th hole for a back-to-back birdie. She reached 10-under, five shots clear of her two closest pursuers. She was absolutely on fire with confidence, stupefying everybody. She continued to perform flawlessly like crazy.

Sadly, however, she threw away her early gains with two successive bogeys on the 16th and 17th, making the turn at an even-par 36. After a train of four pars, she endured her third bogey of the day on the fourth hole, dropping to seven-under. Happily, however, she birdied the par-4 seventh hole to lead the field by two strokes. She ended the second round at an even-par 72, which was decent enough.

Park Ji-young makes her third shot on the ninth hole during the second round of the MEDIHEAL-Hankook Ilbo Championship at the Ferrum Club in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, April 14. Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoon

Meanwhile, in the spotlight in the afternoon was defending champion Park Ji-young. She caught fire with three birdies before making the turn to get to three-under. Then, she quickly collected back-to-back birdies on the second and third holes, chasing after the clubhouse leader three strokes behind. With a nice birdie on the par-5 fifth hole, she pulled ahead to join the group pursuing the leader in the clubhouse two shots behind. On the penultimate hole, Park hit her 90-yard approach to within two yards. She reeled in her seventh birdie of the day to end the round at a bogey-free seven-under 65. She took sole second place, a single stroke shy of the clubhouse leader. Her awesome seven-under was the best score of the day.

Seasoned player Lee Joo-mi started the day three shots shy of the lead. She first birdied the par-3 16th hole to make the turn at a one-under 35, two strokes shy of the leader at eight-under. Her valuable second birdie on the second hole allowed her to tie for second place with Park Ji-young.

With seven holes still remaining to play, Lee had a good chance to catch or possibly usurp the clubhouse leader. Eventually, she made a 5.6-yard birdie putt on the seventh to share the lead. Reeling in her fourth birdie of the day on the par-3 eighth, she took the sole lead, supplanting the club. She capped the final hole with a par for an overall score of a nine-under 135, one stroke clear of the overnight leader.

Park Hyun-kyung hit a three-under 69 for a three-way tie for third place with Park and Kim Ji-su at seven-under. Kim ended the day at a five-under 67.

Tied for sixth place are Jeong Yun-ji, Ji Han-sol, Ro Seung-hui and Kim Si-won at six-under, three strokes shy of the leader.

Four shots adrift from the leader are Kim Min-ju, high-profile Park Min-ji, Song Ga-eun and Kim Su-ji.

Some 50 players made the cut.

The author (kimjstar@hanmail.net) lives in a rural village near Seoul, studying and teaching golf.