On a day when former world No. 1 Lydia Ko emerged from her recent lull, Australia's Minjee Lee has quietly moved into a nice position at the LPGA Tour's Indy Women In Tech Championship at Indianapolis.
Lee, the 21-year-old Perth superstar, carded a second-round 66 to reach nine-under par, six from the lead shared by Ko and Lexi Thompson at 15-under.
Already a three-time winner on the LPGA Tour, Lee has not managed a victory in 2017 but has been ultra-consistent, logging seven top-10 finishes and earning almost $US700,000.
She is ranked 16th on the season-long points list in the Race to CME Globe and will be encouraged by her form enroute to the season's final major, the Evian Championship in France next week.
Four other Australians — Sarah Kemp, Katherine Kirk, Sarah Jane Smith and Su Oh — made the cut, with Oh making birdie at her final hole, the ninth on the course, to get into the weekend.
Meanwhile Ko, who has not won since 2016, carded a 64 with nine birdies, including five on the trot at one point.
“I felt like there were a lot of positives and a lot of good things going on but I just couldn't put it all together,” said the Kiwi afterward. “This week, the last couple days I've been able to hit it pretty good and make some good putts and that's what I've kind of been lacking the last few months.”