South Korea’s In Gee Chun has a fourth main title – and second of the season – in her sights after claiming the midway lead within the £6million AIG Women’s Open.
Chun, who gained the Women’s PGA Championship at Congressional in June regardless of consecutive weekend rounds of 75, carded six birdies and a solitary bogey in a second spherical of 66 at Muirfield.
That gave the 27-year-old a midway whole of eight beneath par and a one-shot lead over South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai and Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom, with seven-time main winner Inbee Park a shot additional again.
Sunday’s winner will declare £903,000 from the file prize fund, however Chun revealed she can be motivated by a considerably smaller sum of cash on supply.
“Before the start of the tournament my caddie Dean and I talked about the course and had a little bet,” Chun defined.
“If I have a bogey-free round he’s going to buy me dinner and pay me 100 dollars each day, so before each round it’s like setting another goal.
“I think that mindset helped a lot on the course; I had two bogeys over the last two days but I want to keep trying for a bogey-free round.”
Buhai regarded on the right track to say the midway lead when she made an eagle and 4 birdies to race to the flip in 30, however after choosing up one other shot on the eleventh the 33-year-old couldn’t make any additional good points and dropped her solely shot of the day on the final.
That meant Buhai matched the 65 posted earlier within the day by final yr’s joint runner-up Sagstrom, whereas in a single day chief Hinako Shibuno adopted her opening 65 with a 73 to fall 4 pictures off the tempo on 4 beneath.
Scotland’s Louise Duncan additionally carded a 73 to slide again to 2 beneath alongside Ireland’s Leona Maguire, with the English trio of Jodi Ewart Shadoff, Charley Hull and Mel Reid all a stroke additional again.
Duncan solely turned skilled a fortnight in the past and after lacking the minimize within the Scottish Open is now assured her first pay cheque, which might be a fine addition to the 22-year-old’s marriage ceremony plans.
Scotland’s Louise Duncan on the first tee throughout day two of the AIG Women’s Open at Muirfield (Steve Welsh/PA)
(PA Wire)
“If it’s a big, big pay cheque, we can just go abroad and get it over with… in the nicest way possible before that comes across bad,” Duncan mentioned with amusing.
Dame Laura Davies suffered an sad forty second look within the occasion with an 81 which included a ten on the 18th, though the 58-year-old later joked that it might have been worse after being struck by her personal ball making an attempt to flee a bunker on the final.
That used to result in a penalty till the rule was modified in 2019.
