Ashleigh Buhai made seven birdies on Friday as she raced into the top 10 at the halfway mark of the LPGA Tour’s Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship at Palos Verdes Golf Club in Los Angeles, California.
Buhai also dropped two shots during her five-under-par 66 for her second round after opening with a one-over 72 which left her down in 61st. After her fine second round, she was in a share of ninth on four-under-par, four strokes off the lead.
In front ahead of the weekend was Malia Nam of the United States, who added a two-under 69 to her opening 65 to move to eight-under. That gave her a one-stroke lead over Ruoning Yin of China and Sweden’s Madelene Sagstrom. Ireland’s Leona Maguire and Americans Rose Zhang and Alison Lee shared fourth on six-under.
Buhai opened with a blemish-free front nine with four birdies, three of which came in succession on the fifth, sixth and seventh. She made three more birdies on her homeward nine, but dropped shots on the 12th and 15th.
Paula Reto, who opened with a two-under 69, followed her first round with a one-under-par 70 and, at three-under through 36 holes, was in a share of 15th, just five strokes off the lead.
Nam took her one-stroke lead into the weekend in just her second career LPGA Tour start. One of seven former University of Southern California players in the field at the scenic course overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the 24-year-old Nam – from Hawaii – played more than 100 rounds on the layout during her time at the college.
“I’ve seen every single inch of this golf course, good and bad,” Nam said. “It’s funny, because in college I never really played well here. This is actually the first time that I think I shot consecutively under par, so I’m a bit surprised myself.”
