Lee leads at halfway stage in Evian

South Korea’s Lee Mi-Hyang added a 67 to her opening 66 on Friday to take the outright halfway lead on 133, nine under par, at the Evian Championship, the final major of the season.
The 22-year-old, who won her first LPGA event at the Mizuno Classic in Japan at the end of last season, led by one from American Morgan Pressel and by two from Denmark’s Nicole Broch Larsen, winner of last week’s Helsingborg Open.

“Winning in Japan was pretty big,” said Lee in her ever-improving English. “It was in a play-off so that was a big experience. After that tournament there has been a good change in my golf.”

Lee has also recently called on experience by hiring a new caddie, Mike Carrick. “I’m a young player and he’s pretty old,” said the youngster. “He’s 69, the oldest on Tour so he has lots of knowledge.”

Pressel carded the best round of the week, a six-under-par 65, as she set about adding a second major to the Kraft Nabisco Championship she won as an 18-year-old in 2007.

It’s five years since Pressel won on the LPGA Tour, but she hit form with eight birdies, including a couple from within two feet.

“I had a really good three days last week with my coach Ron Stockton back home and I just really prepared for these two weeks,” said Pressel, who will be in Team USA for the Solheim Cup starting in Germany a week tomorrow.

“I’ve tried to stay positive. This is my tenth year here and I just hope to keep playing the same way over the weekend. I’ll try and battle it out over the next two days.”

American Lexi Thompson, joint leader with Lee after the opening round, could only manage a one-over-par 72 and was five off the lead, alongside World No. 2, Lydia Ko.

The 18-year-old is trying to replace Pressel as the youngest-ever winner of a women’s major, and she goes into the weekend five off the lead.

Wearing tape on her knee and ankle – “I turned my ankle walking down the 14th yesterday, but it’s not sore enough to bother me” – Ko dropped a shot at the last for a second successive 69.

World No.1 Park In-Bee, who has won two majors this year, also shot 69 but has eight shots to make up to catch Lee.

Europe’s Solheim Cup contenders Caroline Masson, Caroline Hedwall, Azahara Munoz and Melissa Reid all missed the cut that fell on five over par. They were joined on the sidelines by Americans Paula Creamer, Brittany Lang, Angela Stanford and Brittany Lincicome.

Creamer, a former Evian winner and a Solheim Cup star since 2005, is going through a really poor patch. She set an LPGA record of never missing a cut in 75 tournaments from August 2010 to May 2014. But, after rounds of 74 and 79, she has now missed four in a row.

Defending champion, Kim Hyo-Joo, had a second round 69 to finish on level-par 142.
Source: AFP