They played until dark Friday at Charleston Country Club but thanks to an earlier weather delay, there’s more work to do to finish the second round of the Women’s U.S. Open.
First-time competitor Mamiko Higa from Japan rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt at the 18th to take the solo lead at six-under par. After a blazing 65 on Thursday, she shot 71 and seemingly made every putt she looked at. Her closing birdie was good enough to put her just a shot in front of American Jessica Korda. Korda followed up her 69 with 68 and tied the day’s best round.
Good news for the USA is that Americans are inhabiting the top of the scoreboard. Gina Kim, the individual NCAA champion from Duke, continued to be the surprise of the week. She’s an amateur and is alone at four-under. Celine Boutier of France was four-under but has four holes to finish when the second round continues early Saturday morning.
Darkness left a lot of players with work to do, including Lexi Thompson. Thompson was two-under for her round and three-under for the tournament with two holes left to finish.
Nelly Korda has a chance to get closer to Higa. Korda, who overcame a double and two bogeys over her first nine holes, was one-under for her round and three-under with three holes to finish.
