Mirim Lee of South Korea made three birdies while finishing on the front nine and shot 2-under-par 69 to tie Brooke Henderson of Canada for the lead after two rounds of the KMPG Women’s PGA Championship at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Wash.
The 25-year-old Lee, who has won twice on the LPGA Tour, was at even-par for the round when she birdied the first, third and sixth holes, before carding a bogey on No. 8.
“As the weather is cold, then it help I hit driver,” said Lee, whose last victory came in the Reignwood LPGA Classic. “I hit really good today. So today I thought–it was good today.
“(The course is) really perfect. And then really difficult. Really narrow, right? Rough is tall. Greens are fast. But fun. Just hit like beautiful course here. … I had a lot (of birdie putts) today, but just missed putt, misread (some).”
Henderson, 18, who held the first-round lead with a 67, still was ahead by one stroke until she made her second bogey of the round on the 18th hole to finish at 73.
As a mix of heavy rain, wind and a significant drop temperature changed the course in the afternoon, Henderson ran off six straight pars and birdied the par-3 17th before her closing bogey.
“Definitely growing up (in Canada), springtime, fall-time weather was very similar to this,” said Henderson, who is fourth in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. “Definitely it gives me a little bit of advantage.
“But I like to think I’m a good player in all conditions. Maybe it runs in my favor a little bit.”
Gerina Piller birdied two of the last three holes to shoot 69 and was one stroke behind in a tie for third with top-rankled Lydia Ko of New Zealand, who had a late birdie in her 70, and Brittany Lincicome, who had three birdies in a row through No. 15 while also finishing at 70.
Tiffany Joh of San Diego and UCLA carded a 72 and was another shot back in a tie for sixth with So Yeon Ryu (70) of South Korea, Su Oh (69) of Australia, Ai Miyazato (70) of Japan and I.K. Kim (73) of South Korea.
Cheyenne Woods posted a 70 and was three strokes down in a tie for 11th with Christina Kim (74) of San Jose, Catriona Matthew (69) of Scotland, Minjee Lee (73) of Australia and Suzann Pettersen (73) of Norway.
