South Korea’s Lee Jeong-Eun6 fired her second consecutive three-under par 69 to seize the early clubhouse lead in Friday’s second round of the US Women’s Open as US President Donald Trump arrived.
Lee finished her round before Trump arrived in a fleet of black vehicles on a rainy afternoon at his Trump National resort, where the year’s third major LPGA championship is being contested.
Protests were expected outside the highly secured grounds and the US Golf Association is under fire for failing to move the richest event in women’s golf over Trump’s controversial remarks about women during his presidential campaign.
Lee birdied the par-4 second, took her lone bogey at the par-4 fifth but closed the front nine with a birdie and added back-to-back birdies at the par-3 14th and par-5 15th to top the leaderboard at six-under 138 after the early wave of players.
Lee has the designation six after her name in scoring because that’s how she is known on the Korean LPGA Tour, where she is a regular but the sixth of six women with the same name. Lee, nicknamed “Lucky Six”, is joined in this week’s field by another Lee Jeong-Eun, this one a US LPGA regular.
South Koreans have won four of the past six US Women’s Open titles and six of the past nine.
Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, who completed her storm-interrupted opening round of 69 on Friday morning, was second in the clubhouse and two strokes off the pace on 140 after a second-round 71.
Ciganda, who began on the back nine, birdied the par-5 15th and 18th holes around another birdie at the par-3 16th. But the stumbled in with bogeys at the second and par-3 seventh to leave Lee on top.
Among those on the course as Trump arrived were China’s Feng Shanshan, the 18-hole leader after an opening 66, and South Korea’s Amy Yang, who opened on 67. Both were one-under for the day on their opening nine holes.
Join GhanaStar.com to receive daily email alerts of breaking news in Ghana. GhanaStar.com is your source for all Ghana News. Get the latest Ghana news, breaking news, sports, politics, entertainment and more about Ghana, Africa and beyond.