Minjee Lee has blasted a second round 66 to be three back at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur.
Lee reeled off six birdies in the opening ten holes of her round, but closed with a relative whimper with a bogey on the last to be even par on the back nine and 5-under for the day.
Tied for sixth, Lee is trailing Korea’s Ha Na Jang by three. Jang is a three-time runner-up in her rookie season, and will be eager to ensure this trend doesn’t continue in the first of six LPGA events in the Asian region.
On the leaderboard, Lee is sandwiched between two of this year’s major winners, with Inbee Park a shot ahead on 8-under and Lydia Ko a shot back.
This is the Royal Fremantle golfer’s first event in just under a month, after the LPGA tour took a hiatus for the Solheim Cup.
During a five week stretch before the break, Lee was playing some of her best golf of the year — making every cut, finishing twice in the top 20 and earning an additional top 10 finish at the British Open.
Lee earned just over US$165,000 during that stretch to boost her season earnings to US$670,070 (AU$920,000).