After a four-week break from golf, the Kiwi briefly led the Kroger Queen City Championship at TPC Rivers’ Bend with a six-under 66 to go to 11-under for the tournament.
A round that featured four birdies and an eagle saw Ko move from third into the lead for a couple of hours, while remaining bogey-free in her second round. Late finisher Jeeno Thitikul also carded a six-under 66 to take the solo lead heading into the weekend by one shot at 12-under.
Beginning the day at five-under, Ko made five successive pars to begin her round before a birdie on the par-five sixth hole kickstarted her scoring.
The Olympic and Women’s Open champion then took advantage of another par five on the eighth hole and did one better to make eagle.
Her back nine saw her make birdies on 13, 14 and 18 to close out another strong round as she chases a third win during this hot streak that started when she claimed gold in Paris.
The Hall of Fame inductee heads into the weekend with a great chance to continue that streak with another win.
Ko said following her round that she would try to channel the form and mindset of the last few months as she headed into the weekend’s play.
“Being smart with the club selection off the tee and just knowing which ones I should be aggressive and which ones I should be a little bit more conservative.
“But, yeah, just I feel like I set myself a good plan going into the week so that’s what I’m going to stick to. I know there is still a lot of golf to be played so just focus on me and I think that’s the biggest thing that I’ve been doing well these past month or so.
“So just stick to that.”
Lydia Ko has a strong chance to continue her winning streak. Photo / Getty Images
Fox makes cut at BMW PGA Championship with spectacular eagle
Ryan Fox celebrates an eagle on the 16th hole at the BMW PGA Championship. Photo / Getty Images
After a somewhat frustrating opening round for Ryan Fox’s BMW PGA Championship defence, the Kiwi has carded a two-under 70 to sit three-under for the tournament and in a tie for 41st - 10 shots back from leader Matthew Baldwin.
A spectacular eagle may be the difference between playing on the weekend and cutting his title defence short, with the projected cut set to one-under.
A bogey-free front nine with birdies on the third and fourth holes had Fox in a position to make up some ground on the leaders with opportunities to score on the back-nine par fives.
The work done on the front nine was slightly undone as the world number 75 made two bogeys on the back but he made up for it with a spectacular eagle on the 16th, holing out from 130 yards (118m) and erasing the two bogeys.
It could have been a seriously testing round for the Kiwi, but after he chipped in from off the green to save bogey on 15, the eagle on 16 has given him a chance at a top-10 finish over the weekend.
Fox’s playing partner Rory McIlroy continued from his quality first round and carded a four-under 68 to go nine under for the tournament and sit two shots back of Baldwin.
Will Toogood is an online sports editor for the NZ Herald. He enjoys watching people chase a ball around on a grass surface so much he decided to make a living out of it.
