By ,
Published May 03, 2016
Williamsburg, VA (SportsNetwork.com) - Alison Lee shot a 4-under 67 in Friday's second round and that was good enough to give her a 2-shot lead heading into the weekend at the Kingsmill Championship
Lee, who has never won on the LPGA Tour, finished 36 holes at 9-under-par 133. She has one top-10 finish on tour this season.
"Feeling good, especially being on the top of the leaderboard going into the weekend definitely gives me an advantage for this week," Lee said. "Anything can happen. This tournament is only halfway over. I'm going to try my best to stay focused and stay in the game, because anything can happen."
Minjee Lee (67) and Perrine Delacour (68) are the closest players to Alison Lee. They are tied for second and two shots back at 7-under 135. So Yeon Ryu is one shot further back at minus-6 following a 2-under 69 on the River Course at Kingsmill Resort & Spa.
First-round leader Joanna Klatten struggled on her way to a 4-over 75 and she is tied for 22nd at 2-under 140.
Alison Lee saw her name surface toward the top of the leaderboard early on as she started on the back nine. Following a pair of pars at 10 and 11, Lee got to minus-6 with a birdie at 12.
Two more pars from Lee preceded back-to-back gains at 15 and 16, getting her to minus-3 on the day. She made the turn with two more pars at 17 and 18.
A birdie at the par-4 first kept Lee rolling. She rattled off four straight pars from two before tripping to her first bogey at No. 6. That trimmed her lead to just one shot.
However, the 20-year-old responded right away with a birdie at the par-5 seventh, which got her two shots up once again. Lee closed with two pars to end at 9-under.
"Coming into today I felt really confident, especially after my round yesterday," said Lee. "I was striking the ball well, was putting well, and got it rolling on the front nine."
Minjee Lee was able to grab the lead early on as a member of the morning groups. She coasted out of the gate with eight straight pars from No. 10 before rolling in her first birdie on 18.
A bogey at the first dropped Lee back to even for the day, but an eagle at the par-5 third followed by a birdie at four had her going strong once again. Lee closed with four pars and a gain on No. 7.
Delacour started on the front nine and holed a birdie on three and an eagle on the par-5 seventh. A bogey on 12 dropped her back a shot, but Delacour later got that shot back with a birdie on 17.
NOTES: Alison Lee finished fourth at the Kia Classic, which was her best finish of the season. She has also missed three cuts in eight events ... Neither Minjee Lee nor Perrine Delacour have won on the LPGA Tour as well ... With the cut falling at 2-over 144, 81 players advanced to play the weekend ... Defending champion Lizette Salas (73) finished at 5-over 147 and missed the cut ... U.S. Women's Open champion Michelle Wie, who withdrew following Thursday's round, was diagnosed with hip bursitis on Friday.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/alison-lee-opens-up-2-shot-lead-at-kingsmill