‘Hot Six’ Lee Jung-six (27‧Daebang E&C) recorded her first win on the second day of group play at the U.S. Women’s Professional Golf (LPGA) Tour’s Bank of Hope Match Play ($1.5 million purse) to sit atop her group.
Lee took a two-stroke lead over Hong Ye-eun (21‧CJ) with one hole to play on the second day of the tournament at Shadow Creek Golf Club (Par 72, 6804 yards) in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Lee bounced back from a disappointing first round loss to Sophia Schubert (USA) the day before, where she held a two-shot lead going into the 16th hole before dropping two shots in the final two holes.
With the win, Lee improved to 1-1 and moved into a two-way tie for first place with Schubert with 1.5 points. Lee will play Brooke Henderson (Canada) in the final round.
The only match-play event on the LPGA Tour, the tournament is played in a different format than most. The 64 players are grouped into four groups of four, with only the group winners advancing to the round of 16. From there, a tournament format will determine the winner.
Lee took a two-hole lead with a birdie on the third (par-4) and a par save on the fourth (par-5). She fell behind Hong Yerin, who birdied the seventh, to trail by one.
However, she made back-to-back par saves on the 10th and 11th (both par-4s) to regain the lead after a bogey.
A bogey at the 13th (par-3) gave her a two-shot lead again, but a double bogey at the 15th (par-4) gave Hong her first victory. She then dropped a shot at the 16th (par-5), but tied the score at the 17th (par-3) to win by two.
Other Korean players also reported victories on day two.
Se-Young Kim (30, Medi Hill) improved to 1-1 with a two-hole victory over Sarah Kemp (AUS). Annalynn An (27, Mediheal) and Hae-ran Hae (22, Daol Financial Group) also went 1-1 with one-hole victories over Linnia Stromm and Frida Sinnert (both of Sweden), respectively.
Kim Ah-rim (28‧Hanwha Q CELLS) held a one-stroke lead over Lindsey Weaver Wright (USA) before allowing her to tie the match at the last.
Defending champions Ji-hee Ji (37, Q CELLS) and Ji-eun Shin (31, Q CELLS), who both won on day one, lost to Maddie Shrike (CAN) and Riona Maguire (IRL), respectively, to go 1-1.
Meanwhile, world No. 1-3 Jin Young Ko (28-Solare), Nellie Coda (USA) and Lydia Ko (New Zealand) did not compete in the event. 토토사이트