It was just a matter of time.
It was just a matter of time before Lydia Ko broke out of her mini-slump if you want to call it that.
She broke out of it in a big way on Friday at the CME Group Tour Championship with an 11-birdie effort that gave her a second round 62 and a three-shot lead going into the weekend.
Ko started her day with three straight birdies with plenty to come on the back nine, seven to be exact. She shot 30 with a bogey at the 12th hole, her only hiccup in an otherwise perfect performance that set the tournament record for lowest round.
“So much better than I could have imagined,” is how the world’s No. 1 player summed up her day’s work. She pointed out that she saw Shanshan Feng’s opening 66 and that got her attention. “My goal wasn’t 62,” she said of her mindset going into round two of the LPGA’s season finale. She started with three straight birdies “and I carried that momentum for the rest of the round,” she said.
“Putting” is how Ko put a ribbon on her effort that spotted her a three-shot lead over Ryann O’Toole and So Yeon Ryu.
Beatriz Ricari and Sei Young Kim are at eight-under, four back.
First round leader Feng saw her magic dwindle. She finished with a 73 and fell back to five-under, tied for 16th.
Ko’s move pushed her closer to winning Player Of The Year honors. That has come down to her and Ariya Jutanugarn. Jutanugarn shot 68 and is in at four-under, tied for 19th with a lot of ground to make up on Ko.
