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Sports

Henderson grabs 2-shot lead at Swinging Skirts

By Sports Network
Published | Updated

San Francisco, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Brooke Henderson fired a tournament- record 7-under 65 in Friday's second round and she snagged a 2-shot lead heading into the weekend at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.

"It's pretty cool," Henderson said about setting the record. "This golf course is tough, and the conditions are even tougher. My back nine the greens really started to firm up and got a little bit faster. Really got to be careful where you place it on the greens."

Henderson, who turned pro this year, finished 36 holes at 9-under-par 135, which broke Stacy Lewis' (2014) record of 138 by three shots. Henderson is looking for her first victory on the LPGA Tour at 17 years old.

Na Yeon Choi used a 4-under 68 to grab sole possession of second place. Choi finished two rounds at 7-under 137. Sakura Yokomine (67) and Yueer Cindy Feng (68) are one shot further back and tied for third at minus-6 at Lake Merced Golf Club.

Defending champion and first-round leader Lydia Ko, who celebrated her 18th birthday on Friday, shot an even-par 72. The world No. 1 is tied for fifth with Min Seo Kwak (67), Julieta Granada (69) and Ha Na Jang (71).

Henderson, who started her second round on the back nine, began her ascent up the leaderboard right off the bat.

After making a par at the 10th, Henderson birdied two of her next three before rolling in an eagle putt at the par-5 14th. Through five holes, Henderson was at minus-4 for the day.

Following a trio of pars from 15, Henderson drained birdies at 18 and two as she made the turn. Now up to minus-8 for the week, the Canadian tripped to her first and only bogey at the par-4 fifth hole.

Henderson responded nicely, however, by making back-to-back birdies at six and seven to get to 9-under. She finished up with a pair of pars to end there.

"I think I'm ready," Henderson said when asked if she is ready to make the jump and earn her first victory. "Yeah, 17 is young. As you've seen with Lydia Ko and Lexi Thompson and even Jessica Korda, there are a lot of great names that have been able to do it. I'm hoping that I'm one of them."

Choi, also playing the back nine first, holed birdies on 10, 12 and 16 along with an eagle at the 14th just like Henderson.

The gain on 16 was Choi's last, however, as she finished her round with 10 pars and a bogey on three to finish 36 holes two back.

NOTES: Karine Icher set the previous tournament record of 66 last year ... Henderson played in four tournaments last season as an amateur, making every cut and notching one top-10, which was a tie for 10th at the U.S. Women's Open ... Henderson tied for 33rd at the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic earlier this season, which was the only other LPGA event she has played in this year ... With the cut falling at 5-over 149, 79 players advanced to play the weekend.