Irving, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Monday qualifier Brooke Henderson fired a 6- under 65 in Friday's second round and the youngster grabbed a 1-shot lead heading into the weekend at the North Texas Shootout.
Henderson, a 17-year-old who held the second- and third-round leads before finishing alone in third at last week's Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic, finished 36 holes at 8-under-par 134. Henderson is seeking her first career win.
"Last week definitely helped out a lot, finishing solo third and having a chance to win on Sunday was a lot of fun, and I definitely learned a lot from it," Henderson said. "And then I had to Monday qualify earlier in the week, so I just sort of kept the momentum rolling."
World No. 2 Inbee Park used a 5-under 66 to jump into second place at minus-7 along with first-round co-leader and U.S. Solheim Cup captain Juli Inkster (69) at Las Colinas Country Club.
Mi Hyang Lee (66), Hee Young Park (67), Lexi Thompson (69) and Karine Icher (69) are one shot further back and tied for fourth at 6-under 136.
Cristie Kerr, who held the first-round lead along with Sydnee Michaels and Inkster, shot an even-par 71 and she is tied for eighth with Amy Yang (69), Ha Na Jang (69) and Sandra Gal (70).
Henderson, who opened up with a 2-under 69 and started the day three shots back of the leaders, began on the back nine and made three straight pars before going on a run that included three birdies in four holes from No. 13. Henderson made the turn with a trio of pars from 17.
At 5-under for the week, Henderson drained three more birdies in another 4- hole stretch to take the lead at minus-8. She finished up with four straight pars to end there.
"I hit a lot of good shots. My putter was really working. I had a lot of birdie opportunities and I was able to make a lot," said Henderson. "On the back nine, my driver struggled a little bit, and I was able to hit some great shots out of trees and under limbs and everything and able to keep it going."
Park was also bogey-free in her second round. She made two birdies on the front nine at one and seven. Park separated gains with seven straight pars from No. 8 before finishing strong with three birdies over her final four holes.
Inkster was slow out of the gate as she made a bogey at No. 1, but she steadied the ship in the middle of her round. The 54-year-old later made the turn with birdies at six, seven, 10 and 13 to get up to minus-8.
A bogey at 16 dropped Inkster back a shot to 7-under and she finished there after making pars on 17 and 18.
NOTES: In eight events this season, Park has five top-10 finishes and has ended no worse than a tie for 18th ... Henderson won the Monday qualifier in a playoff on Tuesday after weather forced it over two days ... Michaels struggled to a 5-over 76 and is tied for 47th at even-par 142 ... Defending champion Stacy Lewis shot a 2-over 73 and is also tied for 47th ... Lydia Ko, who has made the cut in all of her events on the LPGA Tour, carded a 3-under 68 to narrowly make the cut at 1-over 143. Ko is tied for 62nd and is now 51- for-51 in making it to the weekend on tour ... With the cut falling at 1-over 143, 70 players advanced to play the weekend ... Paula Creamer and Sue Kim both withdrew during their second rounds.
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