Rolex Rankings No. 5 Inbee Park and No. 7 Suzann Pettersen share the lead at 10-under-par at the halfway mark of the Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship presented by Audi.
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Norway’s Pettersen continued her hot play of late, firing a 7-under 65 to tie the 18-hole tournament record. While South Korean Park, who had also tied the tournament record in the first round, followed up her impressive opening round with a 3-under 69 which was highlighted by a near hole-out for eagle on the 18th.
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Rolex Rankings No. 1 and Taiwan native Yani Tseng (@YaniTseng), who won the inaugural event here last year, sits two shots back of the leaders and is tied for third with Scotland native Catriona Matthew (@Beany25). American Alison Walshe is outright sixth at six-under-par with another three players a further shot back.
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The last time that Suzann Pettersen won events in consecutive weeks it was back in October of 2007 when she took home trophies in Korea and then in Thailand. The 10-year LPGA pro is now trying to see if she can deliver a similar magic stretch during the LPGA Tour’s Asian swing this year.
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Pettersen captured her ninth LPGA Tour victory at last week’s LPGA KEB•HanaBank Championship and she is now trying to take home win No. 10 in Taiwan. With her 7-under 65 on Friday to move into a share of the lead with Inbee Park, Pettersen has put herself in contention for yet another possible victory.
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“I played really solid on the Front 9,” Pettersen said. “I gave myself three good looks on the first three holes, chipped it in on the fourth, and really just tried to stay aggressive, and when I made the turn, I figured it&aposs time to kind of shift to the fifth gear, and it&aposs nice when the body reacts to your kind of mind game, and really just tried to stay aggressive and firing at the pins.”
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So considering her success in these overseas events, is there something special about Asia that brings out the best in her game?
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“That&aposs a good question,” Pettersen said with a smile. “I mean I love playing golf. I mean some players like to come to Asia. Other players think it&aposs a hassle to kind of travel that far. I really just try to embrace wherever I go. Last week I really enjoyed Korea. This week I&aposm really enjoying Sunrise because this is the place I&aposve been all week and I&aposll be for the next two days. So I&aposm really just trying to when I&aposm on the golf course work, and when I&aposm off the course, just really give myself a break, do something completely different and really just look forward to getting on the course the next day.”
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There are three Australians in the field this week, Lindsey Wright is leading the way. The Victorian carded a second round of two-under-par 70 to move into red figures at one-under-par and shares 24th position. Katherine Hull (72) and Sarah Jane Smith (73) are just one shot back of Wright and tied for 32nd.
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