CLIFTON, N.J. — On Thursday afternoon, Minjee Lee started the Cognizant Founders Cup in a way that most lost golfers would try to forget: with a double bogey on her first hole, the par-4 10th.
Less than 24 hours later, midway through her second round, Lee returned to the 10th tee at Upper Montclair Country Club. After making 12 birdies in the 26 holes since, it would have been easy for her to pretend the gaffe never happened.
But the 25-year-old Australian took a different approach.
“I was like, ‘I’m not making the same mistake twice,’” Lee said. “So I made a better decision from off the tee. … And [then] I hit it close. So it was nice to make a birdie.”
Lee made birdies at 10 and 11 and an eagle at 12, propelling the fifth-ranked player in the world to the top of the leaderboard with a 9-under 63. Lee, the fifth-ranked player in the world, is 14 under through 36 holes, three clear of the field but with some big names lurking near the top.
World No. 9 Lexi Thompson fired a 6-under 66 and is tied for second with Ally Ewing, who also shot a 66, and Madelene Sagstrom, who went 2 under on Friday after shooting a 63 on Thursday. All three are at 11 under.
Megan Khang is tied for sixth, six shots back at 8 under after shooting even par to follow up her Thursday 64. And Anna Davis, the 16-year-old who won the Augusta National Women’s Amateur last month, shot a 2-under 70 to get to 4 under to make the cut in a second straight LPGA event, the first two of her career. She’s tied for 32nd, one shot behind World No. 1 Jin Young Ko, who shot a 2-under 70 and is 5 under for the tournament.
Meanwhile, Ireland’s Leona Maguire shot a 4-over 76 to finish 1 over and miss the cut by two. Marina Alex, who grew up in nearby Wayne and picked up her second LPGA victory earlier this month, shot an even-par 72 to finish at two over par and also miss the cut.
As for Lee, she started her second round Friday morning at 5 under and quickly jumped to the top of the field with…
Source : yahoo
