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01/30 18:33 CST Lake Nona member Lydia Ko, Lottie Woad share lead in LPGA Tour
opener
Lake Nona member Lydia Ko, Lottie Woad share lead in LPGA Tour opener
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) --- Lake Nona member Lydia Ko shot a 5-under 67 on Friday
for a share of second-round lead with Lottie Woad in the LPGA Tour's
season-opening Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
Ko, the 2024 tournament winner and a Hilton Grand Vacations ambassador, is the
lone player in the 39-woman field without a bogey after two days. The Hall of
Famer has 23 LPGA Tour victories.
"I've had to hole some good par putts, but I really haven't put myself in that
many difficult positions as of yet," said Ko, from New Zealand. "I think that's
why I had the two bogey-free rounds. I'm hoping to kind of continue that good
momentum this weekend."
Woad shot a 69 to match Ko at 8-under 136 in mostly sunny conditions with 12
mph wind at the most in the 70-degree afternoon.
"I looked at the leaderboard quite a lot today because I was getting annoyed,"
Woad said. "Seemed like there weren't that many low scores out there, so kind
of knew I was still in it. The pins were probably a little trickier so weren't
as many birdies as yesterday."
The 22-year-old English player won the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open last
year, weeks after taking the KPMG Women's Irish Open as an amateur on the
Ladies European Tour.
Nasa Hataoka, also a Lake Nona member, was a stroke back with Amy Yang. Hataoka
had a 71, and Yang shot 69.
Defending champion A Lim Kim was 6 under after her second 69. Youmin Hwang (67)
and Ingrid Lindblad (69) also were 6 under.
Top-ranked Jeeno Thitikul and Kelly Korda were 5 under. Thitkul had a 72, and
Korda shot 71.
"I think the weather is going to get a little worse so I'm going to go to the
putting green, go to the range because wasn't hitting it the best today," Korda
said. "Just going to figure some things out ahead of the weekend."
Baseball player Aaron Hicks topped the celebrity field.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
