Ko, Furue ahead at LPGA Tournament of Champions
New Zealand’s Lydia Ko sank a 15-foot birdie putt on the closing hole to grab a share of the lead after Friday’s (Saturday in Manila) second round of the LPGA Tournament of Champions.
The 26-year-old Seoul-born Kiwi’s finish in the rain gave her a bogey-free, 5-under par 67 to match Japan’s Ayaka Furue on 8-under 136 after 36 holes at Orlando’s Lake Nona in the first event of the 2024 LPGA season.
“I played really solid,” Ko said. “I felt like I hit the ball really well. I’ve been trying to take more ownership of making swings. Going to keep building and polishing up my game.”
Furue, who led Thursday after an opening 65, fired a 71, answering a bogey at the par-3 fourth with birdies at the par-4 12th and par-5 15th.
Scotland’s Gemma Dryburgh, whose only LPGA title came at the 2022 Japan Open, and Mexico’s Gaby Lopez shared third on 138 with Canada’s Brooke Henderson and American Alexa Pano both another stroke adrift.
Ko, a member at Lake Nona, birdied the par-5 second and par-4 eighth, then closed the front side with an eagle at the par-5 ninth after blasting her second shot onto the green from the rough.
“I had a good lie, and it wasn’t the first time I had been in that rough,” Ko said.
Ko, a two-time major champion, won her most recent title at last year’s Saudi Ladies International on the Ladies European Tour.
Ko’s most recent of 19 LPGA triumphs came at the 2022 Tour Championship, although she captured last month’s Grant Thornton Invitational mixed team event alongside Australian Jason Day.
Furue, an eight-time winner on the Japan Tour, qualified for the event with her victory at the 2022 Women’s Scottish Open. She had nine top-10 LPGA finishes last year, the best a runner-up effort at the LPGA Match-Play.