It started well enough for Ashleigh Buhai on Friday in the second round of the LPGA Tour’s BMW Ladies Championship on the Seowon Hills course at Seowon Valley Country Club in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, but four bogeys in her final six holes set her back somewhat.
Buhai made two birdies on the front nine and another on the 11th, but then the first-round leader with her brilliant 62 started to battle the conditions and ended up with a one-over-par 73 to be in a share of second on nine-under through 18 holes. That was just one off the lead held by Minjee Lee of Australia on 11-under. Buhai shared second with Alison Lee of the United States.
“I think that is one of the toughest days I’ve ever had on a golf course in terms of the wind switching,” said Buhai. “I’ve never played any round where the wind just switched that much. I think I did really well on the front nine. Stayed very patient. And I did the same on the back nine, and it was just the case of I picked a shot and the wind literally switched.
“I shot one-over, but there is so much golf left; I’m not out of this at all.”
Her opening round was her first competitive round since early September after sitting out for five weeks with a flare-up of her back problem. “I must say, not having played in five, six weeks, I got a little tired towards the end,” she said. “My back did get a little achy. I’m just hoping I can get some good rest tonight and I’ll feel better in the morning.
“It’s something that I just have to live with kind of and manage it. When it’s cold, I struggle a little bit more. And those last five holes it got really cold, and the body just needs some time to get used to playing again. But, hey, I’m hanging in there. And if you told me coming into the week after the first two rounds of being nine-under, I would have taken it in a heartbeat.”
