A letdown was understandable. But it was just a blip. Ryu rebounded to shoot 2-under 69 to grab the outright lead over Shiho Kuwaki. Ryu stands at 7 under par, one clear of the LPGA Japan Tour\u2019s top-ranked player.<\/p>\n
Overnight leader Jeeno Thitikul was nine shots higher in Round 2<\/a>, shooting 73. She sits at 5 under par alongside Yealimi Noh (70).<\/p>\n Ryu is in prime position to become the fifth player in tour history to win three consecutive major titles. Fellow South Korean Inbee Park was the most recent player to accomplish that feat, doing so in 2013. Pat Bradley did it over two seasons, in 1985-86. Mickey Wright (1961-62) and Babe Zaharias (1950) are the other two.<\/p>\n Things didn\u2019t look good for Ryu early in Round 2 as she bogeyed the par-4 third and doubled the par-3 fifth to fall four off the lead. But the KPMG Women\u2019s PGA and Amundi Evian champ birdied Nos. 7, 9, 10 and 15 to match Kuwaki at 6 under. She stayed there with a nice up and down on the par-4 17th \u2013 after missing only her second green of the day \u2013 and closed her rally with a 10-foot birdie putt at the last.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I don\u2019t want to focus for on other players. I just think about my golf and the golf course,\u201d Ryu said. \u201cSo because a lot of great players in here, so that\u2019s why I just want to think about my golf. Because this is a major; nobody knows what comes up.\u201d<\/p>\n Friday was also a nice bounce back for playing competitor Nelly Korda. After an opening 73, Korda dropped a shot on her third hole of Round 2 before making a lengthy, winding birdie putt<\/a> at the par-4 fourth.<\/p>\n That sparked a run of four birdies by the turn. She then went bogey-birdie-bogey-birdie to start her back nine, before parring out for a 3-under 68. Korda, who won the season\u2019s first two majors at the Chevron and U.S. Women\u2019s Open, is at 1 under for the championship, six back of Ryu.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, 36 in, 36 holes to go. You never know what\u2019s going to happen,\u201d Korda said. \u201cIt\u2019s golf. It\u2019s links golf. Just going to try to have the same attitude I had today going into the weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n
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