With five birdies on the front nine, Jin Young Ko propelled herself up the leaderboard at the ANA Inspiration on Saturday. She leads the field one shot ahead of In-Kyung Kim.
With five birdies on the front nine, Jin Young Ko propelled herself up the leaderboard at the ANA Inspiration on Saturday. She leads the field one shot ahead of In-Kyung Kim.
Ko took an early lead with birdies at holes 2, 4, 5, 6 and 9 on the front nine. As she made a surge to the top, the opposite seemed to be for happening everyone else. Ko broke away with a five-shot lead until an errant tee shot into the water at the 14th put a temporary halt to her reign. She followed a double bogey with another bogey before steadying the ship with a late birdie at 17. She signed for a round of 4-under to take her to 8-under par for the tournament.
Behind Kim at 7-under is an impressive line up of players ready to surge at this year's first major; Mi Hyang Lee and Danielle Kang sit at 5-under, Alena Sharp, Jeongeun Lee6 and Katherine Kirk at 3-under, and a whole host at 2-under, including Stacy Lewis, Brooke Henderson, Jessica Korda and previous tournament leader, Ally McDonald.
Carding a round of 74 on Saturday, Charley Hull set the tone for her round right from the start. She followed a bogey at the 1st with a birdie at the 2nd, and it carried on much the same thereafter. She hasn't played herself out of it though and sits amongst a huddle of players tied for 15th. Georgia Hall and Jodi Ewart Shadoff slipped down the leaderboard after rounds of 76 and 77 consecutively.
With so few shots separating the field, Sunday's round really could go anyone's way at the moment. Get ready for another exciting major Sunday – see you on the other side!
Image credit: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
