Sei Young Kim carded a 6-under-par 66 to seize a one-stroke lead after the second round of the BMW Ladies Championship on Friday in Haenam, Korea.
Kim tied the 36-hole tournament scoring record at 16-under 128 by collecting seven birdies and one bogey on Friday at the Pine Beach Golf Links. Ashleigh Buhai also shot a 128 during the 2023 tournament at Seowon Valley Country Club.
Kim, the Korean is bidding her 13th LPGA Tour victory of her career and first in 2025, holds a one-shot lead over Brooke Matthews.
Matthews recorded a bogey-free 64 on Friday. Japan’s Rio Takeda (66) and Korean Hyo Joo Kim (68) are tied for third place at 13-under.
“So it seems that we are getting a lot of birdies on this course, so tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, it’s important to get the birdies as much as possible,” Sei Young Kim said. “I hope to keep my play style as I did for the first day.
“Of course, there’s a lot of pressure on the third and fourth day, but it’s not just me. Everyone will have the same pressure. But I just want to accept the fact and enjoy the rest of the tournament.”
For Kim, it marked the fourth time in her career that she has led or shared the lead following the first and second rounds at the same tournament on the LPGA Tour. She has not finished worse than third place each time, including the FM Championship earlier this year (third-place finish).:
Matthews registered eight birdies, including two on her last two holes, to put pressure on the leader.
“It’s kind of funny, I didn’t feel very comfortable coming into this week, playing China last week, didn’t really have my best stuff,” Matthews said. “But (it) made me go out there and play it shot-by-shot, lower expectations and I feel like I just managed it really well. Just kind of stayed in the moment, and ended up making some putts and racking up some good scores.”
Minjee Lee (66) resides in a five-way tie for sixth place at 10 under, while defending champion and fellow Australian Hannah Green (69) and is nine strokes in back of the leader.
Sweden’s Linn Grant recorded the round of the day with a 63. She had an eagle and seven birdies to sit in a tie for 11th place at 9-under.
