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Golf: Yuka Saso sizzles in 2nd round of Hawaii LPGA tournament

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Field Level Media/Reuters

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/afp/04/16/yuka.jpg"/><figcaption>Saso&#x27;s 16-under 128 total has her in front of New Zealand&#x27;s Lydia Ko, who recorded the best score of the tournament on Friday, a 9-under 63 that leaves her 14 under overall. <em>Christian Petersen, Getty Images North America via AFP</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Yuka Saso of the Philippines produced a second consecutive stellar round Friday for a 2-shot lead at the midpoint of the Lotte Championship in Kapolei, Hawaii.</p><p>Saso, who shared first place after the opening round, carded a second consecutive 8-under-par 64 at Kapolei Golf Club on the island of Oahu.</p><p>Her 16-under 128 total has her in front of New Zealand&#x27;s Lydia Ko, who recorded the best score of the tournament on Friday, a 9-under 63 that leaves her 14 under overall.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/04/15/21/golf-yuka-saso-gains-share-of-lead-at-lpga-lotte-championship">Golf: Yuka Saso gains share of lead at LPGA Lotte Championship</a></li></ul><p>Spain&#x27;s Luna Sobron Galmes (second-round 64), South Korea&#x27;s Hyo Joo Kim (65), South Korea&#x27;s So Yeon Ryu (68) and Nelly Korda (68) share third place at 11 under.</p><p>Brianna Do (66), Ally Ewing (69) and South Korea&#x27;s A Lim Kim (64) are tied for tied for seventh place at 10 under.</p><p>Six players, including first-round co-leader Brittany Altomare (71) and amateur Rose Zhang (68), are seven strokes behind Saso, tied for 10th.</p><p>Saso, 19, is a regular on the LPGA of Japan Tour, but she finished in the top 15 at last year&#x27;s US Women&#x27;s Open. She is looking for her first victory on the US-based LPGA Tour.</p><p>Her scorecard Friday featured nine birdies, including four in a row around the turn, and just one bogey.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/03/29/21/saso-vows-to-bring-more-honor-to-ph-after-2nd-athlete-of-the-year-plum">Saso vows to bring more honor to PH after 2nd Athlete of the Year plum</a></li></ul><p>&quot;Two more days, I&#x27;m trying to get used to it,&quot; said Saso, who admitted she was playing this course for the first time this week. &quot;It&#x27;s like Philippines but colder than Philippines and windier than Philippines. I made some good putts, had good up and downs, my driving was very consistent today.&quot;</p><p>Ko, 23, already has 15 LPGA wins, including two majors, but she hasn&#x27;t been victorious since April 2018. Her bogey-free round Friday included three different streaks of back-to-back birdies.</p><p>&quot;I started off well birdieing my first two holes, and then I think I just continuously gave myself opportunities,&quot; Ko said. &quot;Especially around a golf course like this, the more times you&#x27;re putting for birdie or having chances to putt for birdie the better. ...</p><p>&quot;Especially when the winds come, I think it&#x27;s a course where some players can go really low, so feel like I was able to do a pretty good job at that, and nice finishing off with a birdie on the last (hole).&quot;</p><p>Zhang, who started on the back nine, had a run of three consecutive birdies before making the turn after consecutive bogeys. The 17-year-old from Southern California closed her round by birdieing three of her last four holes.</p><p>&quot;Everything was going pretty well in that birdie stretch, then I did kind of falter on 17 and 18,&quot; Zhang said. &quot;It was just like minor mistakes, and then I also pulled it into the water. But I think I lessened the mistakes out here today and just came back on the back nine.&quot;</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="Golf: Pinay Yuka Saso claims 2019 Girls Junior PGA championship">Pinay Yuka Saso claims 2019 Girls Junior PGA championship</a></li></ul><div><strong>FROM THE ARCHIVES:</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1639357" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

<p>Saso, who shared first place after the opening round, carded a second consecutive 64 for a 16-under 128 total at the LPGA Lotte Championship.</p>

Saso, who shared first place after the opening round, carded a second consecutive 64 for a 16-under 128 total at the LPGA Lotte Championship.