‘Golf Empress’ Park In-bi (33), world ranking No. 1 Ko Jin-young (26), and defending champion Lee Mi-rim (31) entered the lead on the second day of the ANA Inspiration for the first major tournament of the LPGA Tour season. A bridgehead was established.
On the 3rd (Korean time) in the second round of the tournament held at Mission Hills Country Club (par 72, 6,763 yards) in Rancho Mirage, California, USA, Park Inbi hit 3 under par 69 with one eagle, two birdies, and one bogie. Park In-bi, who was tied for 16th with 70 strokes under the 2 under par in the first round, climbed to 6th place with a total of 139 strokes under the 5 under par. It is 4 shots from Patty Tawatanap (Thailand, 9 under par 135 shots), who maintained the sole lead. In-bi Park, the winner of the 2013 competition, entered the competition after winning the 21st LPGA Tour title at the KIA Classic last week. Since the British Women’s Open (now AIG Women’s Open) in August 2015, they have won major competitions in six years and are aiming to retake the world rankings. Park In-bi, who started from the 10th hole that day, went into the hole with the third shot from the 11th hole (par 5) fairway and started with an eagle comfortably. In the 18th hole (par 5), after sending the third shot to the hole 3m, he caught a birdie and reduced the first three strokes. Park Inbi said, “I cut 3 strokes even in the midst of difficult and windy in the first half. In the second half, I made a lot of opportunities and missed some putts, but overall, I played a good game by keeping a lot of fairways and greens.”
Ko Jin-young, who hit 3 under par in the first round and climbed to 8th place, tied three birdies and a bogie, reducing two strokes, and tied for sixth with Park In-bi. Ko Jin-young, who started from the 10th hole in the same group as Park In-bi, was not good at the beginning of the 13th hole (par 4), but after catching a birdie in a row on the 17th to 18th holes, he reduced one more stroke in the second hole (par 5). Ko Jin-young said, “We had a good round and made a lot of buddy opportunities. The 17th hole buddy, which came out with just one example, was special, and the 18th hole was also good.” Lee Mi-rim, who lifted his first major trophy in this tournament last year, also reduced 2 strokes by tying 3 buddies and 1 bogie, and lined up with Park In-bi and Ko Jin-young. “It was a difficult day because there were a lot of bad shots,” said Lee Mi-rim. “The driver especially needs more consistency. I think I need to practice more.”
Tawatananain, who announced a sensation of rookies as the first round 6-under par alone, kept the top of the leaderboard by reducing three more shots with one eagle, three buddies, and two bogies on this day.
Choi Dong-soon reporter [email protected]
News directly edited by the Hankook Ilbo can also be viewed on Naver.
