Sei Young Kim carded a 6-under-par 66 to take a one-shot lead after the second round of the BMW Women’s Championship on Friday in Haenam, Korea.
Kim tied the tournament scoring record through 36 holes at 16-under 128 by collecting seven birdies and one bogey Friday at Pine Beach Golf Links. Ashleigh Buhai also shot a 128 during the 2023 tournament at Seowon Valley Country Club.
Kim, the Korean, is aiming for her 13th victory of her career on the LPGA Tour and her first in 2025, holds a one-shot lead over Brooke Matthews.
Matthews carded a bogey-free 64 on Friday. Japan’s Rio Takeda (66) and Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim (68) are tied for third place with a score of minus-13.
“So it looks like we’re getting a lot of birdies on this course, so tomorrow and the day after tomorrow it’s important to get as many birdies as possible,” Sei Young Kim said. “I hope to maintain my style of play like on the first day.
“Of course there is a lot of pressure on the third and fourth days, but it’s not just me. Everyone will have the same pressure. But I just want to accept it and enjoy the rest of the tournament.”
For Kim, it was the fourth time in her career that she led or shared the lead after the first and second rounds of the same LPGA Tour tournament. She has finished no worse than third place each time, including the FM Championship earlier this year (third place). :
Matthews recorded eight birdies, including two on her last two holes, to put pressure on the leader.
“It’s kind of funny, I didn’t feel very comfortable this week, I played against China last week, I didn’t really have my best players,” Matthews said. “But (it) pushed me to play shot by shot, with lower expectations and I feel like I handled it really well. I just kind of stayed in the moment and ended up making some putts and putting up some good scores.”
Minjee Lee (66) is in a five-way tie for sixth place at 10 under, while defending champion and fellow Australian Hannah Green (69) and is nine shots behind the leader.
Swede Linn Grant logged the day’s round with a score of 63. She carded an eagle and seven birdies to move into a tie for 11th place at 9 under.
–Field level media
