Ashleigh Buhai carded a two-under-par 70 on Friday to move to eight-under-par at the halfway mark of the LPGA Tour’s Ford Championship presented by KCC at Seville Golf and Country Club in Phoenix, Arizona.
The reigning Investec South African Women’s Open champion made three birdies and a bogey to slip down into a share of 28th. She was six strokes off the lead which was held by Hannah Green of Australia, who fired an 11-under-par 61 to take a one-stroke lead. Sarah Schmelzel of the United States and Peiyun Chien of Taiwan were on 13-under in a share of second.
The other South African in the field, Paula Reto, signed for her second successive three-under-par 69 to move to six-under through 36 holes and a share of 52nd.
The 27-year-old Australian Green took a six-week break following the Australian Open that included her marriage to Jarryd Felton. Recharged, Green won the HSBC World Championship in China, but returned to the US to miss the cut at the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship last week in Southern California. She started Friday’s second round at Seville six shots back and started racing up the leaderboard.
Green shot four-under 32 on the front nine, added a birdie on 10 and closed with a flourish to shoot 29 on the back.
