Catriona Matthew in joint ninth place, five off the pace

Haru Nomura moves into Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic lead; Lydia Ko four back

GOLFWEEK.COM

By Kevin Casey

              

Haru Nomura and Lydia Ko (Getty Images)

Already a winner this season, Haru Nomura is looking for more at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic at San Francisco.
The Japanese player fired a  second-round 70 in windy conditions Friday at Lake Merced Golf Club, to improve to nine under par, three strokes ahead of the field. 
Nomura parred her first 11 holes on the day before birdieing 12 and 13 to move to 9 under.
A bogey at 16 was recouped by a birdie at the next, leading to the score of 70. Nomura’s victory, her first on the LPGA, came at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open in February, and while she’s been patient on the golf course this week, her appetite for wins is a bit ravenous.
“I’d like to have as many as I can, so the second win is pretty much a big deal,” Nomura said.
Of course, with 36 holes to go in San Francisco, it’s still many players’ game. It can’t be comforting for Nomura to look at the leaderboard right behind her. Minjee Lee, who at 19 earned her second LPGA win last week, fired a flawless 7-under 65 to move from a tie for 59th all the way to a tie for second at 6 under. She posted the score thanks to four birdies in her final seven holes, a day after bogeying three of her last four.
Lee still managed a 65 despite just one birdie Friday on the four par 5s. It seems like something has clicked of late for the Australian, as evidenced by the recent win, but she would suggest otherwise.
“(Have I found anything?), not really,” Lee said. “I think I had (that win) in me, just haven’t really brought it every week.”
Two others, Na Yeon Choi and So Yeon Ryu, share Lee’s spot at 6 under – Ryu after posting a 75 that jetted her from a two-shot lead to three behind. But a certain World No. 1 one back of that trio might be the scariest proposition.
Lydia Ko, who turns 19 on Sunday, birdied three of her first holes Friday and looked well on her way to chasing down the lead. But she cooled off from there, posting 10 straight pars before two late bogeys sunk her back to 5 under and a tie for fifth.
The accolades for the young star are enormous: two-time major champion, 12-time LPGA winner, and two victories this year already.Not to mention that she’s the two-time defending champion at this event.
In fact, we’ve compiled a list of her record-breaking accomplishments to date.
All of this is to say is she wasn’t sweating too much about her finish.
“I think the first nine holes, I struck the ball really well and gave myself quite a few good looks for birdies,” Ko said. “I kind of hit a few wayward shots, so that kind of made me bogey, but overall, I played pretty solidly. My ball-striking wasn’t too good on my back nine, but hopefully we can get that sorted and be positive and play well on the weekend.”
Americans Gerina Piller and Brittany Lang also find themselves tied with Ko at 5 under. Lexi Thompson is 11 back at 2 over, while Stacy Lewis made the cut on the number at 4 over.
Paula Creamer missed the cut after a second-day 78 dropped he to 6 over.
Catriona Matthew is lying tied ninth on 140, five off the pace, after rounds of 68 and 72.

SECOND-ROUND SCOREBOARD
par 144

1	Haru Nomura	65	70						135
T2	Minjee Lee	73	65						138
T2	So Yeon Ryu	63	75						138
T2	Na Yeon Choi*	68	70						138
T5	Lydia Ko	68	71						139
T5	Gerina Piller	70	69						139
T5	Brittany Lang*	69	70						139
T5	Karine Icher	71	68						139
T9	Lee-Anne Pace*	71	69						140
T9	Catriona Matthew	68	72						140
T9	Julie Yang*	72	68						140
T9	Mi Hyang Lee	69	71						140
T13	Su-Hyun Oh*	70	71						141
T13	Danielle Kang*	69	72						141
T13	Angel Yin	70	71						141
T16	Azahara Munoz	70	72						142
T16	Kelly Tan	70	72						142
T16	Ryann O'Toole	69	73						142
T16	Christel Boeljon	67	75						142
T16	Xi Yu Lin	67	75						142
T16	Brooke M Henderson	71	71						142
T16	Carlota Ciganda*	74	68						142
T23	Shanshan Feng	74	69						143
T23	Moriya Jutanugarn	69	74						143
T23	Amy Yang	72	71						143
T23	Morgan Pressel	72	71						143
T23	Tiffany Joh	70	73						143
T23	Mika Miyazato	73	70						143
T23	Christina Kim	72	71						143
T30	Katherine Kirk	70	74						144
T30	Candie Kung	65	79						144
T30	Wei-Ling Hsu	69	75						144
T30	Mi Jung Hur	72	72						144
T30	Cristie Kerr	71	73						144
T30	Hee Young Park	74	70						144
T30	Mariajo Uribe*	71	73						144
T37	Tzu-Chi Lin	72	73						145
T37	Jaye Marie Green	72	73						145
T37	Sakura Yokomine	73	72						145
T37	Kelly Shon	76	69						145
T37	Ariya Jutanugarn	71	74						145
T37	Jessica Korda	72	73						145
T37	Jenny Shin	72	73						145
T37	Min Lee*	71	74						145
T37	In Gee Chun	71	74						145
T37	Brittany Lincicome	71	74						145
T37	Julieta Granada	70	75						145
T48	Michelle Wie	73	73						146
T48	Lexi Thompson	72	74						146
T48	Caroline Masson	72	74						146
T48	Jodi Ewart Shadoff	73	73						146
T48	Lindy Duncan	73	73						146
T48	Lee Lopez	72	74						146
T48	Ssu-Chia Cheng	73	73						146
T48	Rachel Rohanna*	68	78						146
T48	Chella Choi*	73	73						146
T48	Nasa Hataoka	73	73						146
T58	Anna Nordqvist	73	74						147
T58	Pannarat Thanapolboonyar*	72	75						147
T58	Sadena Parks	73	74						147
T58	Alena Sharp	73	74						147
T58	Austin Ernst*	73	74						147
T58	Gaby Lopez*	73	74						147
T58	Sandra Changkija*	72	75						147
T65	Kim Kaufman	71	77						148
T65	Mo Martin	76	72						148
T65	Juli Inkster	74	74						148
T65	Mina Harigae	76	72						148
T65	Ashlan Ramsey	73	75						148
T65	Vicky Hurst*	74	74						148
T65	Marina Alex	72	76						148
T65	Grace Na*	74	74						148
T65	Ya-Chun Chang	71	77						148
T65	Bertine Strauss	76	72						148
T65	Cheyenne Woods	73	75						148
T65	Stacy Lewis	72	76						148
T65	Pornanong Phatlum*	76	72						148
T65	Eun-Hee Ji	70	78						148
T65	Hyo Joo Kim*	73	75						148
T65	Nontaya Srisawang	72	76						148
T65	Amy Anderson	72	76						148
WD	Ha Na Jang	WD
T82	Alejandra Llaneza	79	70	MC	UT				149
T82	Casey Grice	76	73						149
T82	Megan Khang	73	76						149
T82	Katie Burnett	69	80						149
T82	Hsin-Ning Yeh*	74	75						149
T82	Belen Mozo*	73	76						149
T82	Jacqui Concolino*	73	76						149
T82	Pernilla Lindberg*	72	77						149
T82	Laetitia Beck*	75	74						149
T91	Yu-Chiang Hou	73	77						150
T91	I Wen Chen	78	72						150
T91	Ilhee Lee	72	78						150
T91	Paula Creamer	72	78						150
T91	Sei Young Kim	72	78						150
T91	Yueer Cindy Feng	75	75						150
T91	Caroline Hedwall	75	75						150
T98	Budsabakorn Sukapan	78	73						151
T98	Paula Reto	77	74						151
T98	Yu-Ju Chen	78	73						151
T98	Dewi Claire Schreefel	76	75						151
T98	Annie Park*	75	76						151
T98	Beatriz Recari*	75	76						151
T98	Se Ri Pak*	74	77						151
T98	Ayako Uehara	74	77						151
T98	Sarah Jane Smith*	76	75						151
T107	Maria McBride	75	77						152
T107	Benyapa Niphatsophon	75	77						152
T107	Dani Holmqvist	73	79						152
T107	Daniela Iacobelli	75	77						152
T107	Kris Tamulis*	75	77						152
T107	Alison Lee*	77	75						152
T107	Jo Hua Hung*	74	78						152
T107	Cyna Rodriguez*	79	73						152
T107	Min Seo Kwak	75	77						152
T116	Jane Park	77	76						153
T116	Pei-Yun Chien	77	76						153
T116	Cydney Clanton	78	75						153
T116	Yu-Sang Hou	76	77						153
T116	Ai Miyazato	76	77						153
T116	Perrine Delacour	78	75						153
T116	Tze-Han Lin	75	78						153
T116	Sarah Kemp*	80	73						153
T116	Laura Davies	78	75						153
T116	Ai-Chen Kuo*	79	74						153
T126	I.K. Kim	77	77						154
T126	Thidapa Suwannapura	79	75						154
T126	Meena Lee*	77	77						154
T126	Han Hsuan Yu*	79	75						154
T130	Yuting Shi	76	79						155
T130	Sun Young Yoo	81	74						155
T130	P.K. Kongkraphan*	76	79						155
T130	Holly Clyburn	78	77						155
T130	Giulia Molinaro*	80	75						155
135	Huei-Ju Shih	79	77						156
136	Yani Tseng	77	80						157
T137	Jing Yan	80	78						158
T137	Q Baek	77	81						158
T137	Hsuan Ping Chang	79	79						158
140	Alison Walshe	80	79						159
141	Brianna Do	80	80						160
142	Jennifer Johnson	81	80						161
T143	Simin Feng	79	84						163
T143	Meng Chu Chen	81	82						163
145	Yi-Ling Liang	87	79						166
146	Mirim Lee	76	WD						76
147	Maude-Aimee Leblanc	78	WD						78
148	Joanna Klatten	79	WD						79
149	Sydnee Michaels	81	WD					-	81

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