NAPLES, Fla. — Lydia Ko is in whole management on the midway mark of the CME Group Tour Championship.
Whole management of the season-long scoring and cash races, too.
Ko shot a 6-under 66 on Friday within the second spherical of the LPGA Tour’s season finale, pushing her to 13 underneath for the event and 5 photographs away from Hyo Joo Kim by means of 36 holes.
Ko made 4 birdies in a six-hole stretch halfway by means of her spherical, rolled in a testy 4-footer to save lots of par on the par-4 thirteenth to take care of what was then a 4-shot lead, and hasn’t dropped a shot since her opening gap Thursday.
“I simply wished to concentrate on my recreation,” stated Ko, who turned a 1-shot lead getting into Friday to the 5-shot edge when it was over. “It was a reasonably tight leaderboard. I shot a low one yesterday and that spherical, it may be anyone all through the week.”
Besides proper now, it is not anyone else going as little as Ko has.
Her flawless spherical capped a giant day for the LPGA, which unveiled its 2023 schedule with a record-setting $101.4 million in purses earlier Friday.
Ko’s 66 was the perfect rating of the day; 4 different gamers shot 67s. By two rounds at Tiburon, there have been 4 scores of 66 or decrease; Ko has two of them after a gap 65 on Thursday.
Kim (69) made back-to-back birdies on 16 and 17 to get to eight underneath, alone in second. World No. 1 Nelly Korda (69) is in a pack tied for third at 7 underneath, together with Japan’s Nasa Hataoka (67), Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist (69) and Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh (70).
Korda was making a transfer on the entrance, closing her first 9 with three birdies in a four-hole stretch. However she made nothing however pars on the again 9.
“Lyds is taking part in nicely,” Korda stated. “She’s had a tremendous yr. To catch her I am simply going to must play aggressive and drain the putts.”
And even which may not be sufficient. Everyone seems to be chasing Ko, who’s chasing trophies and extra.
Ko entered the week with a one-point lead within the race for LPGA Tour participant of the yr. She must keep away from simply all-out catastrophe on the weekend to win her second consecutive Vare Trophy for having the yr’s lowest scoring common. These titles would transfer her nearer to the LPGA Corridor of Fame.
And with $2 million, the largest single prize in ladies’s golf, awaiting the winner meaning the cash title is inside her attain as nicely.
“It was a stable day,” Ko stated. “It was extra stable than yesterday. … I could not actually have requested for extra to begin this week.”
Ko is now averaging 68.964 this yr. Atthaya Thitikul‘s common for the season is 69.447. It could take a few 40-shot swing between them on the weekend for Thitikul to catch Ko in that race.
And if Ko wins the event, she’d push her earnings for 2022 to $4,364,403 and nearly lock up the cash title as nicely.
“Lydia is Lydia,” stated Eire’s Leona Maguire, who shot 69 for the second consecutive day; she’s tied for seventh at 6 underneath, 7 photographs again of Ko. “I am positive she’s going to maintain going, so in the end attempt to shoot as little as we are able to over the weekend and see what occurs.”
DIVOTS: Jin Younger Ko, bidding for a fourth consecutive win on the Tiburon course, shot 75 and is 16 photographs again. Stacy Lewis holed out from a greenside bunker on the 18th to complete a spherical of 70 with a birdie. She’s 5 underneath for the event. … Brooke Henderson, clearly ailing from the again challenge that bothered her final week as nicely, shot 2-over 74 and is 2 underneath for the week. … Pajaree Anannarukarn and Danielle Kang every had 66s on Thursday; neither got here near that Friday. Anannarukarn shot 73, Kang 74.
