Angel Yin carries a two-shot lead into the weekend at the CME Group Tour Championship after posting a 3-under-par 69 on Friday in Naples, Fla.
A $4 million first prize is on the line at the LPGA’s season finale at Tiburon Golf Club, where 60 players qualified based on the season-long Race to the CME Globe.
Yin opened with a 65 Thursday and now sits comfortably at 10 under par, with South Korea natives Hye-Jin Choi and Narin An tied for second at 8 under. An, the first-round leader, settled for an even-par 72 while Choi shot her second straight 68.
“I think I have a really loud crowd that’s always cheering me on,” Yin said. “Even if I feel down they’re going to pick me up. That’s always very good. Grateful for that. And then that I’m playing good too. Even though I’m not hitting it the best I want to, I was hitting it better three weeks ago. But if I can play well like this and if I hit it any a little bit better it’s going to be better.”
Yin’s six birdies Friday counteracted three bogeys, and she’s one of only four golfers in the field to shoot sub-70 rounds on both days so far.
The Los Angeles native has won just once on the LPGA Tour before. A breakthrough at the Tour Championship would be the biggest moment of her career. On Thursday Yin said the event “doesn’t have a title of a major” but is just as difficult as one.
In hot pursuit is Choi, whose professional wins have come entirely on the Korean tour. Still, she managed to finish the Race to the CME Globe in 17th on the strength of seven top-10 finishes.
Choi shot a bogey-free 68 Friday and has just one bogey through two days.
“These two days was really played good and I felt really well,” Choi said. “So keep trying, like keep it to this weekend and then, yeah, take some rest.”
Two players shared the low score of the day by firing rounds of 66: World No. 1 Nelly Korda and England’s Charley Hull, who just went head-to-head in the final group of The Annika last week before Korda won.
Korda is now 6 under, in a tie for fourth with Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul (67), China’s Ruoning Yin (68), Japan’s Ayaka Furue (69) and South Korea’s Amy Yang (69). Hull is part of a tie for ninth at 5 under.
Korda had an up-and-down first round before coming out of the gate hot Friday. She holed out for an eagle 2 on the par-4 third and chased that with four birdies while staying bogey-free.
Korda said she “didn’t hit my driver too great” at the third hole.
“I was in the rough on the right and had a really good angle in actually and (it) rolled in like a putt,” Korda said. “Landed soft — I hit controlled 8 (iron), landed soft, and rolled in.”
Hull had a busy front nine with six birdies — including three straight to start her day — and one bogey. It was all pars from there except one final birdie at the par-5 17th.
Hull was asked what she might do with a $4 million boost to her winnings this year.
“I wouldn’t really do nothing different. Just carry on the way I am. Yeah, I’m happy the way I am, so just put it in the bank.”
