LOS ANGELES: A catastrophic meltdown on the back nine on Friday cost Thailand’s Moriya Jutanugarn a chance to defend the LA Open golf title that she won last year.
After finishing her second round at 7 over par to miss the cut, Moriya will be on the sidelines for the final two days of the LPGA event, which Minjee Lee leads by one stroke.
Lee, the world No.4, took advantage of fellow Australian Hannah Green’s problems and shot a 2-under 69 to reach 7-under 135 at Wilshire Country Club. She holed a wedge from 114 yards for eagle on the par-4 14th.
“Out of all the ones that I have been close to making, I think that’s the only one that I actually saw like drop into the hole,” Lee said. “It was pretty cool to see it happen for the first time.”
Green birdied three of the first six holes to get to 9 under, then played the final 12 in 5 over for a 73 that left her three strokes back at 4 under. She had a double bogey after hitting into the water on the par-4 17th, and also had three bogeys.
Lee, a four-time LPGA Tour winner, tied for third last week in Hawaii for her third top-three finish of the season. With a strong finish in Los Angeles, she has a chance to climb past world No.3 Ariya Jutanugarn, who is well off the lead at 2 over par after two rounds.
Ariya, the former world No.1, was playing alongside top-ranked Ko Jin-young, who was at 2 under par. World No.2 Park Sung-hyun missed the cut.
Thailand’s best hope now is rookie Pajaree Anannarukarn, who shot her second consecutive 1-under round and is five shots behind the leader. Pajaree finished a respectable 12th at the Lotte Championship in Hawaii last week.
Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen was second at 6 under par after a 67. Morgan Pressel (66) and Mexico’s Gaby Lopez (68) were another stroke back.
For defending champion Moriya, the day began well as she picked up two strokes on the front nine to go to 2 under after shooting four birdies to go with two bogeys. But the wheels fell off on the par-4 10th hole, where she had a quadruple bogey, followed by three more bogeys plus a double bogey on the 17th.
If it was any consolation for Moriya, fellow Thai Thidapa “Jasmine” Suwannapura, who was just three shots off the lead in the first round, had an even more miserable day, shooting an 81 to finish at 7 over. Her scorecard included five bogeys, one double bogey and one triple bogey.
