Alison Lee ties Nasa Hataoka atop Tour Championship leaderboard
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Alison Lee plays her shot from the second tee during the second round of the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club.
PHOTO: AFP
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MIAMI – Alison Lee is hoping that her daily grind as a golfer will pay off sooner rather than later on the LPGA Tour, and she may just get her opportunity this week.
On Nov 17, the American birdied four of her final five holes to shoot an eight-under 64 and tie Japan’s Nasa Hataoka for the 36-hole lead at the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida.
Lee and Hataoka are at 14-under 130, with Yin Ruoning of China, Minjee Lee of Australia and Amy Yang of South Korea one shot off the pace at Tiburon Golf Club.
Lee, 28, has never broken through on the LPGA Tour. But she placed second at the BMW Ladies Championship in South Korea in October, then won the Aramco Team Series event in Riyadh on the Ladies European Tour and tied for second last week at The Annika.
A victory in the season finale for the US$2 million (S$2.7 million) first prize would be one memorable breakthrough.
“This is my 27th week on the road now playing in tournaments,” Lee said.
“That doesn’t include visiting my parents or a few weeks where I kind of go visit friends or play in pro-ams, stuff like that. It’s a tough life. It’s a grind. I’ve been doing this since I was basically 7 years old.”
The Los Angeles native collected five birdies and her only bogey of the day over her first seven holes. After six straight par saves, she began her closing run of birdies at the par-five 14th.
“Over the last few weeks, putting myself in contention, playing four rounds of really good golf and almost winning a few times, it’s definitely ignited a fire in me,” Lee added.
“When golf is going your way, it’s so much fun. Definitely given me a lot more motivation to work hard, and it’s shown me that I do have what it takes to win. That’s definitely the goal for this week.
“Hopefully, I can keep my head down and keep grinding through to the weekend.”
Hataoka shared the first-round lead with Yin after they shot nine-under 63s. The Japanese carded a 67 in the second round and Yin followed with a 68.
“Today was a different wind direction, so it was a little bit tougher for me,” said Hataoka, who made two of her seven birdies at Nos. 17 and 18.
Minjee Lee posted a 67 to stay one shot back of the leaders, while Yang fired a bogey-free 63 with six birdies on the back nine to catapult into contention.
Tied for sixth at 11 under are Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul and China’s Lin Xiyu, who both posted second-round 66s. REUTERS, AFP
