| -11 N Korda (US); -10 L Salas (US); -7 C Boutier (Fra) C Clanton (US), A Sharp (Can); -6 M Sagstrom; -5 C Hull (Eng), I Park (Kor), E Henseleit (Ger) |
| Selected others:-3 P Tavatanakit (Tha), J Korda (US); -2 L Maguire (Ire), G Hall (Eng); Level L Ko (NZ) |
| Full leaderboard |
Nelly Korda took a one-shot lead over fellow American Lizette Salas at the Women’s PGA Championship in Atlanta thanks to a nine-under par 62 in Friday’s second round.
Korda, 22, birdied her last six holes to move to 11 under after 36 holes.
First-round leader Salas was five under on Friday, and fired a second straight 67 to sit second at 10 under.
England’s Charley Hull, who was second and one shot off the lead on Friday, is tied for seventh at five under.
Korda, who won last week’s LPGA Classic in Michigan, started the day on the back nine and bogeyed her opener before rebounding with four birdies and seven pars over the next 11 holes.
She then reeled off six consecutive birdies to conclude a seven-under 29 on the front nine.
Asked to explain the impressive end to her round, Korda said: “I don’t know. I guess I just blacked out there.
“Actually the one on 17, number eight, was the highlight of my round. I pushed my drive out right, and I was near a root, so I wasn’t even sure if I could hit it. Thankfully I hit just the top of it.
“It’s so scary when you have those types of shots. To drain a long putt was nice, too.”
Korda’s 28-year-old sister Jessica, sharing third after a day one 69, carded an even 72 to be in a tie for 19th, eight shots off the pace.
Northern Ireland’s Stephanie Meadow missed the cut by one shot on three over par, despite a bogey-free second round of 69 in a strong attempt to recover from her opening round of six-over par. Ireland’s Leona Maguire is tied for 27th on two-under as she carded a 70 on Friday.
