A Lim Kim (-7) continues with a steady pace in Singapore and finishes the first 36 holes of the HSBC Women’s World Championship at the top of the leaderboard. Meanwhile, the Spaniard Carlota Ciganda (-2) has replicated her first round result and is just one shot away from the top ten and five from the lead held by the South Korean.
The wind has continued to be a factor, but with less intensity than it was during the opening round. In fact, the average number of strokes has dropped considerably. From the 74.4 strokes recorded in the first round, it has decreased to 71.4. A difference of three strokes. On Thursday, more than two strokes were lost on average to the course, and this Friday the Tanjong Course has been defeated on average. Even so, only twelve players are under par after reaching the halfway point of the tournament.
The Korean A Lim Kim, who already won the first tournament of 2025 on the LPGA, continues to play at a very high level. Those are the times when everything goes well, and you just keep stretching and stretching, hoping the golf gods don’t take the magic wand away from you.
In the second round at Sentosa Golf Club, Kim turned in a scorecard of 69 strokes for a total of seven under par. Undoubtedly, the moment of the day was on the par 3 of the 5th hole when she came within inches of making a hole-in-one: “My plan was for the ball to bounce five yards before the flag, but it kept rolling and rolling and came close to going in. I got a bit lucky,” Kim admitted.
One of the day’s movers was the New Zealander Lydia Ko (-6). The Olympic champion in Paris and winner of last season’s Open turned in the second-best scorecard of the day to get very close to the top of the leaderboard. Lydia seeks to join her name with great legends who have triumphed in this event, such as Lorena Ochoa, Karrie Webb, and Major champions like Jin-young Ko, Inbee Park, or Stacey Lewis.
The New Zealander, who played alongside Carlota Ciganda, signed for 66 strokes and is now second. Just one stroke separates her from the Korean. Five birdies without a mistake put her in the fight. She played very solidly, barely missing three fairways and only missing one green in regulation throughout the round. If she maintains the pace, she will be hard to beat this weekend.
Just one stroke behind Ko are the English Charley Hull and Hyo Joo Kim (-5), who turned in the best scorecard of the day (66 strokes) to reach moving day with their chances intact. Ruoning Yin and Ayaka Furue are also within the top ten and have aspirations for everything.
Another player who enters the weekend with options for everything is Carlota Ciganda. The Navarrese has once again turned in a scorecard of 71 strokes, positioning her just one stroke away from the top ten and five from the lead with 36 holes to go. Without making noise and without big headlines, but the Spaniard is there. Within striking distance, as they say.
Unlike the first round, in this round, Carlota went from less to more. On Thursday, she started with three almost consecutive birdies, and this Friday, she began with two bogeys in the first seven flags. With great personality, the Spaniard immediately recovered with two birdies before closing the first nine. In the second nine holes, two birdies and a bogey spiced up the round to finish the day in twelfth place.
Closing the top twenty is Jeeno Thitikul (-1). This Friday, she couldn’t defeat the course and with a scorecard of 72 strokes, she finishes the day in 16th place.
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