Chun leads by two after second round

Last year’s US Women’s Open champion Chun In Gee held a two stroke lead after the second round at the Evian Championship.

Chun shot a five-under-par 66 and was at 13-under 129 at Evian Resort Golf Club, which is the lowest 36-hole score in the four-year history of the event, which became a Major in 2013.

She heads into the weekend ahead of fellow South Korean Park Sung Hyun and China’s Feng Shanshan. While Chun and Feng have both already won a Major, Park is chasing her first one. No second round leader has gone on to win but the Korean LPGA Tour Money List leader Park has demonstrated that she has game.

In her first six appearances at LPGA tournaments, the 22-year-old has yet to miss a cut and has recorded four top-6 finishes, including T2nd at the KEB HanaBank Championship, T3rd at the 2016 U.S. Women’s Open, T4th at the Kia Classic and T6th at the 2016 ANA Inspiration, which is the season’s first Major.

16/09/2016 Ladies European Tour 2016: Evian Championship, Evian Resort Golf Club, Evian Les Bains, France 15-18 September. Sung Hyun Park of Korea during the second round. Credit: Tristan Jones

“I’m not greedy to get the title, but I’m comfortable,” said Park (above), who had six birdies and three bogeys in a second-round 69. “I’ve won five times and I’ve got a lot of people and experiences so that I can embrace the different environments. That’s why I played well.”

Olympic bronze medallist Feng, who was the first Major winner from mainland China when she won the 2012 Wegmans LPGA Championship, had a four-under par 67 including six birdies and two bogeys. After her round she said she felt tired from walking.

“The course played a little longer today, and we had some kind of pretty long holes, especially — I think the 4th and 5th were playing pretty long today. And for me, I actually started to feel a little bit tired on the back nine. I think it was because of the walk, and the ground is soft.”

16/09/2016 Ladies European Tour 2016: Evian Championship, Evian Resort Golf Club, Evian Les Bains, France 15-18 September. Shanshan Feng of China during the second round. Credit: Tristan Jones

Chun, who is a rookie on the LPGA this year, is also chasing her second Major and posted six birdies against one bogey on a day of mainly warm and overcast conditions. The defending champion Lydia Ko and leading European Carlota Ciganda are also both in the mix after they carded second-round 68s to move into a group tied for 13th position, on four-under-par.

Of the recent Ladies European Tour champions, the 2015 Rookie of the Year Emily Kristine Pedersen had a second-round 69 and is tied for 36th position, while Frenchwoman Isabelle Boineau is T49th and Nuria Itturios sits in T65th, just inside the cut line on three-over-par.