LOS ANGELES (AP) 鈥� Alison Lee seized a share of the lead at the 81st U.S. Women’s Open on Friday with a second-round 68 in her native Los Angeles area, joining Ruoning Yin at 4-under 138 atop a crowded leaderboard at Riviera.
jumped into the hunt for her first Women鈥檚 Open title by shooting the day鈥檚 lowest round at 67, leaving her just two shots back after struggling Thursday.
, Sei Young Kim and Mexico’s Gaby Lopez were in a group of six at 3-under 139, while Korda and three others were at 140.
The venerable course at this 100-year-old country club is hosting its first U.S. Women鈥檚 Open, and it remained unforgiving for the world鈥檚 best. Only two players managed a bogey-free round Friday 鈥� including China’s Yin, who semi-jokingly called Riviera 鈥減assive aggressive” despite being the only player in the field to shoot two sub-70 rounds so far.
鈥淚 love it,鈥� Yin said. 鈥淚 always say that the more difficult (the course), the better.鈥�
Yin carded her second straight 69 in the same city where she earned her first LPGA Tour victory in 2023, a couple of months before . She tied for fourth at last year’s U.S. Open at Erin Hills.
Lee played under par for the second straight day at Riviera, highlighted by back-to-back birdies just before the turn. The new mother鈥檚 first two rounds are an extension of a strong start to the season that includes a third-place finish at the four weeks ago.
鈥淭o win in basically my backyard, where I grew up, would be super cool,鈥� Lee said. I don鈥檛 want to get ahead of myself … but if you鈥檇 told me I would be in this spot at the beginning of the week, I probably would have started crying.鈥�
The 31-year-old Lee grew up in suburban Valencia and had a stellar junior career before playing at UCLA and embarking on her pro career. She is a two-time Solheim Cup participant, but she has yet to win on the LPGA Tour while managing just two top-10 finishes at 44 majors.
鈥淚’m not going to lie, it鈥檚 been very tough,鈥� Lee said. 鈥淚鈥檝e gone through a few stages, a few slumps, if you want to call it, in my career, even since I was like 15 years old. … no matter what I did, no matter how much I practiced, it just wasn鈥檛 going my way.鈥�
Lee then took most of last year off for the birth of her son, Levi. While she says her sleep rhythms are regularly interrupted by her 13-month-old these days, her parents and extended family in Valencia have relieved some of the burden during the Open.
Levi was in attendance for Friday’s round, but Lee’s partner only brought him out to watch the 18th hole because the youngster has a tendency to get excited: He yelled 鈥淏all!鈥� during his mom’s backswing at earlier this year.
With family around her, Lee is finally having the moment she had long anticipated.
鈥淚 feel like I鈥檝e definitely underachieved what I could have done out here on tour,鈥� Lee said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely been really frustrating. I鈥檓 at a point now where I鈥檝e truly accepted it, but like I said, that鈥檚 part of why I want to come back and play. I feel like I was so close so many times.鈥�
Kim was one shot behind Kupcho after the opening round, and she was thrust into the lead early in the second despite shooting 1 over on the front nine. She bogeyed the 18th to drop her share of the lead in one of the day’s final groups.
Kupcho scuffled to a second-round 73 after carding the only 66 of the tournament so far on Thursday.
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