Ashleigh Buhai balanced an opening nine which had three bogeys with a back nine with three birdies on Friday in the second round of the LPGA Tour’s season-opener, the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club in Orlando, Florida.
In the limited field tournament with 32 players, Buhai remained at level-par after her opening 72, but slipped two places to a share of 19th. First-round leader A Lim Kim of Korea reached the halfway mark three strokes clear of her nearest pursuer, Linn Grant of Sweden. Kim added a three-under 69 to her opening 65 to move to 10-under, while Grant had a five-under 67 to be on seven-under for the tournament.
World number one Nelly Korda was one of three players in a share of third on six-under-par.
After opening with a two-under 70 in the first round, Grant carded a near-perfect five-under in her second appearance in the season’s first event. The 2023 Dana Open winner got off to a quiet start, making six pars in her opening six holes before picking up her first birdie of the round on the par-four 16th hole. She struck again with a birdie on 18 to turn at four-under overall and then grabbed two more on the first and third holes to move to six-under for the tournament.
Grant’s only misstep of the second round came on the par-four seventh hole when she made a bogey, but she quickly cleaned up her mistake by carding an eagle on the par-five ninth hole, one of three eagles made on Friday at Lake Nona.
“I feel like yesterday, I didn’t have a tough time on the first nine, but it’s always kind of odd to come into the first tournament when you’re not playing tournament golf for a while,” said Grant. “I found something on the back nine that I really liked and tried to keep that with me today. I know I play my best golf when I keep it simple and not be too aggressive and let the putts do the job for me.”
