Henderson makes major move
KILDEER, Illinois — Canadian Brooke Henderson shared the clubhouse lead after her second round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship on Friday.
The 20-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont., carded a 1-under 71 in the second round to move to 6-under 138 for the tournament, tied with Koreans So Yeon Ryu (69) and Sung Hyun Park (72).
Henderson was one off the pace after the first round of the LPGA Tour’s third major of the year, but vaulted into a tie for top spot with a birdie on No. 18 on Friday.
“It was kind of up and down all day. I made some birdies but I countered them with bogeys, so to finish off with a nice birdie putt on 18 gives me a lot of confidence going into tomorrow,” said Henderson.
“I would have liked to have shot a little bit better today, but 1-under when it was so hot and so windy — I’ll take it.”
A six-time winner on the LPGA Tour, Henderson has finished in the top five at this event the past three years, including a victory in 2016 and a second-place finish last year.
Maude-Aimee Leblanc of Sherbrooke, Que., was the second lowest Canadian despite a 5-over 77 in the secound round to drop into a tie for 36th at 1-over.
Lydia Ko birdied the first hole and just kept rolling from there — all the way into contention for another major victory.
Ko shot a 6-under 66 on Friday to move two strokes off the lead.
The 21-year-old New Zealander shook off an opening 74 at Kemper Lakes to reach 4-under and give herself a shot to win her third major.
“Straight out of the gate, I was able to make a birdie on the first, and that gave me the confidence to say, ‘Hey, you can make a birdie around this golf course,’ ” Ko said. “I played solid.”