Minjee Lee, Cheyenne Knight share lead at Mizuho Americas Open
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Minjee Lee of Australia lining up her shot on the ninth hole on Friday.
PHOTO: AFP
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NEW JERSEY – Minjee Lee shot an eight-under 64 and Cheyenne Knight posted a 68 to move into a tie for the lead at the inaugural Americas Open on Friday in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Australian world No. 5 Lee and American Knight were at seven-under 137, a stroke ahead of world No. 3 Lydia Ko of New Zealand, who carded a second-straight 69 to get to 138 at Liberty National Golf Club.
A fascinating collection of players was another stroke back at 139, tied for fourth: world No. 1 Ko Jin-young (second-round 66) of South Korea, world No. 6 Atthaya Thitikul (71) of Thailand, world No. 8 Brooke Henderson (70) of Canada, Aditi Ashok (72) of India and Rose Zhang (69).
Zhang – the top-ranked amateur in women’s golf until she turned pro last week – is making her pro debut.
Lee birdied eight of her first 12 holes before cooling down and recording pars the rest of the way. She felt she played better on Thursday than her opening-round 73 indicated, and with another round came a better understanding of the contours of the greens at Liberty National, which is hosting an LPGA event for the first time.
“I think Liberty National is kind of a course where if you play it more, the better idea you have,” the 27-year-old said. “So since it’s the inaugural event it’s the same for everybody. I think day by day, you learn new things about the course.”
While she is looking for her ninth LPGA Tour win, Knight is in search of her second and her first since October 2019. The 26-year-old started on the back nine and made four of her six birdies on the front, including three straight at Nos. 1-3.
“I think just how I rebounded and kind of how I didn’t let my emotions get the best of me today is something I’ll take going forward,” she said.
After an early bogey, Lydia Ko birdied Nos. 6, 7, 9 and 10 for a quick surge before parring the rest of her holes. She was in the same group as Lee but tried to focus on her own game while Lee went on her birdie spree.
“I think sometimes you get caught up about what the other person is doing,” said Ko, 26. “You just got to do a good job of you and see where that puts you.”
Zhang, 20, recorded an eagle on the par-five 13th hole to go with three birdies and two bogeys.
First-round leader Lauren Hartlage followed an opening 65 with a four-over 76 that dropped her into a tie for 12th on 141.
New Jersey native Marina Alex rebounded from an opening 80 by matching Lee’s 64 for the low round of the day. She carded nine birdies and one bogey, including a second-nine 30 with six birdies, as she jumped to even par, safely inside the +2 cut line. REUTERS
