Mariajo Uribe of Colombia posted a bogey-free 6-under-par 66 to tie for the lead with Suzann Pettersen of Norway after two rounds of the Manulife LPGA Classic at Whistle Bear Golf Club in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada.
The 25-year-old Uribe, who was a two-time All-American at UCLA, carded three birdies on each nine, including one on her last hole of the day, No. 9.
“I’ve had a lot of fun the first two days and I just have to keep doing the same things,” said Uribe, whose only LPGA Tour victory came in the 2011 HSBC Brazil Cup, an unofficial event. “I just have to stay patient.
“I’ve been working a bit on my swing lately and I’ve been putting pretty good the last few weeks. I had no bogeys today so I’m pretty confident right now. There are some low scores out there, so I have to keep making birdies.”
Pettersen, who has won 14 times on the LPGA Tour, but not since the 2013 LPGA Taiwan Championship, carded a bogey-free 65 that included three straight birdies through No. 9 and three more in a row through No. 14.
Cristie Kerr, who shared the first-round lead with a 63, came back with a 69 and was one stroke back in solo third.
Yani Tseng of Taiwan recorded a bogey-free 65 that left her two strokes behind in a tie for fifth with Kim Kauffman (66), Pernilla Lindberg (67) of Sweden, Victoria Elizabeth (66), Laetitia Beck (69) of Israel, Brittany Lang (68) and Hyo Joo Kim (66) of South Korea.
Cheyenne Woods, who shared the first-round lead at 63, struggled to a 73 and was tied for 19th, five shots back.
Defending champion and second-ranked Inbee Park of South Korea shot 68 and was three shots behind in a tie for 22nd, No. 1 Lydia Ko of New Zealand was five strokes down in a tie for 48th after a 68 and No. 3 Stacy Lewis finished at 70-72–142 to miss the cut by two shots.
