Taoyuan, Taiwan – Suzann Pettersen fired a 7-under 65 on Friday to join Inbee Park atop the leaderboard after two rounds of the Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship.
Park, the first-round leader, managed a 3-under 69. The duo finished 36 holes at 10-under-par 134.
World No. 1 and defending champion Yani Tseng also shot 69. She ended two rounds at minus-8 and was joined in third place by Catriona Matthew (66).
Alison Walshe (67) is alone in fifth at 6-under-par 138 at Sunrise Golf & Country Club.
Pettersen and Park have won the last two LPGA Tour events. Pettersen had one birdie through eighth holes, then poured in six birdies over the last 10 holes.
After a birdie on the fourth, Pettersen parred the next four holes. She converted back-to-back birdie chances at nine and 10.
Pettersen moved to minus-7 with a birdie at the par-5 13th. She ran off three birdies in the last four holes to get in first at 10-under.
"I played really solid on the front nine. I gave myself three good looks on the first three holes, chipped it in on the fourth, and really just tried to stay aggressive," Pettersen stated. "And when I made the turn, I figured it's time to kind of shift to the fifth gear, and it's nice when the body reacts to your kind of mind game, and really just tried to stay aggressive and firing at the pins."
Park tripped to a bogey at the fourth. She atoned for that mistake with a birdie on the par-5 sixth, and followed with birdies on each of the next three holes to jump to 10-under par.
The spurt gave Park a 4-stroke lead. Park parred the first seven holes around the turn. She faltered to a bogey on the par-4 17th, but erased that mistake with a birdie at the last to join Pettersen atop the leaderboard.
"I wasn't really comfortable with the putter after missing two short putts early in the round, so I just needed that one putt to fall, and that fell and just gave me a lot of confidence after that," Park said of birdie at the sixth. "And then I hit a couple shots close after that. So four birdies in a row was the highlight of the day today."
NOTES: Pettersen's 65 matched the course record that Morgan Pressel set last year and Park matched on Thursday...If Pettersen goes on to victory, she would join Tseng and Jiyai Shin as the third back-to-back winner this year...Alison Walshe had the lone birdie of the day on the par-3 11th...Jeong Jang and Se Ri Pak both withdrew during the second round.
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