Smith was a four-under-par coming up the last hole during the second round today, but a double bogey on the 18th saw her finish at two-under for the round and is at two-under for the tournament. Smith is currently tied for 39th position at the halfway point. Wright, carded a one-under-par on the Columbia Edgewater Country Club layout to be at even par and tied for 56th.
It wasn’t a great week for the Australian contingent, with Stacey Keating, Sarah Kemp and Julia Boland all missing the cut. Keating and Kemp only missed by one shot. The cut was made at one-over-par.
Karrie Webb and Katherine Kirk had the week off and will be back in action at the Evian Championship in a couple of weeks.
South Korean I.K. Kim has climbed to the top of the leaderboard at 12-under-par after firing rounds of 65 and 67. Kim, who finished seventh on the LPGA Money list in 2013 will take a three-stroke lead into the weekend.
Kim, a three-time Tour winner, hasn’t taken a 36-hole lead into the weekend since the 2011 Honda LPGA Thailand. Although Kim’s best finish on the LPGA Tour this season is a T13, she did win the Ladies European Masters on the LET by five shots in early July and is looking for her first win on the LPGA Tour since the 2010 Lorena Ochoa Invitational.
“It’s only Friday. I’m really pleased how I played the last two days, and the weekend, I’m really looking forward to it,” Kim said.
“I don’t really think about leading. You never know until the last day on Sunday, last back nine.”
Chasing her on the weekend will be Carlota Ciganda of Spain and Mi Jung Hur of Korea who both tied the low round of the tournament with 7-under 65’s on Friday. They’re tied for second at 9-under par with Laura Diaz (68) and three shots back.
So Yeon Ryu, No. 5 in the Rolex World Rankings, is looking for back-to-back victories after climbing to within four shots of her good friend Kim following a 6-under 66.
Defending champion, Suzann Pettersen, is tied for 10th at six-under after posting a 67 today.