Rose Zhang bogeys the final two holes of her second round to hold a share of share of the lead at four under; field cut to the top eight after another round of stroke play on Friday before switching to single-elimination match play format over the weekend
Friday 5 April 2024 07:57, UK
Rose Zhang watched her two-stroke lead with two holes to play turn into a four-way tie for first place after she bogeyed the final two holes of her second round at the T-Mobile Match Play in Las Vegas.
Zhang's 73 on Thursday sees her hold a share of the lead at four under with Spain's Carlota Ciganda (67), Angel Yin (68) and first-round leader Sei Young Kim (74) of South Korea.
Ciganda was particularly impressive, carding a bogey-free, five-under-67 to catapult herself up the leaderboard in the second round of the stroke play portion of the tournament at Shadow Creek
Ireland's Leona Maguire and Japan's Minami Katsu, who both shot 69 in the second round, are tied for fifth place at three under.
World No 1 Nelly Korda, hoping to extending her remarkable three-tournament winning streak, is currently off the pace in a tie for 20th after back-to-back rounds of 73.
England's Jodi Ewart Shadoff (68) and Japan's Yuka Saso (74) share seventh place at one under, while defending champion Pajaree Anannarukarn of Thailand only just made the cut at nine over after a second-round 79.
After Wednesday and Thursday's action, the field has been cut to the top 65 players and ties. It will again be cut to the top eight after another round of stroke play on Friday, before Saturday morning will begin the single-elimination match play bracket, with the semi-finals taking place on Saturday afternoon and the championship match contested on Sunday.
Zhang, having knocked her approach shot on the 16th hole to within three feet for a birdie and two-shot lead, then bogeyed the 17th and hit her drive on 18 into the water, leading to another bogey.
"Shadow on its own is always a very difficult golf course and very easy to shoot over par here," Zhang said. "With the wind, it makes it tenfold a lot harder.
"So when I saw a little bit of the scores and the cut line, it justifies how difficult we played it today."
Ciganda, who owns two career LPGA wins, with both occurring in 2016, reflected on her impressive second-round showing in the slightly easier morning conditions.
"I played very solid the last two days," the 33-year-old said. "I feel like I've been hitting lots of greens and I think that's key in Shadow Creek. If you can hit fairways and greens and avoid those bogeys, those mistakes, I think it's big.
"I played really good and took advantage of the holes that I hit good shots. Five birdies, no bogeys, I'm very happy with a bogey-free round."
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