PORTLAND, Ore. — Andrea Lee took the lead Saturday in a bid for her second Portland Basic victory in three seasons, taking pictures a 5-under 67 for a one-stroke benefit over Dewi Weber and Alexa Pano.
Lee rebounded from a gap bogey to birdie 5 of the subsequent eight holes in calm situations at Columbia Edgewater. She added a birdie on the par-5 twelfth to get to 19 below and closed with six pars.
“I simply bought to stay to my sport plan, attempt to birdie the par 5s, and perhaps among the simpler holes and gap places,” Lee mentioned. “You simply bought to remain actually affected person on the market and know that putts are going to finally fall my means.”
The 25-year-old American gained the 2022 occasion on the tree-lined course for her lone LPGA Tour title.
“Clearly, I really like this golf course,” Lee mentioned. “I really feel actually snug out right here. Had a very strong day. Simply performed actually regular golf. Managed to get some putts to drop on the entrance 9.”
Weber, the second-round chief after a 62, chipped in for birdie on the par-4 seventeenth in a 70. She’s attempting to win for the primary time on the LPGA Tour and ship an announcement to the Dutch Olympic committee that it made a mistake by declining to ship her to Paris.
“I simply bought to make good swings, good strokes, not under-read the putts and like see in the event that they go in,” mentioned Weber, making solely her second LPGA Tour begin of the yr. “That’s really all I can do.”
She certified for the Olympics below Worldwide Golf Federation requirements, however was neglected due to the Netherlands’ separate requirements for all sports activities to fulfill a sensible probability of a top-eight end.
Pano shot 66. Final yr on her nineteenth birthday, she gained the ISPS Handa World Invitational in a playoff in Northern Eire for her first LPGA Tour title.
“After I gained, positively, it was having to make a number of birdies and it’s going to be the identical type of factor tomorrow,” Pano mentioned. “Simply attempt to get a few of that magic from final yr.”
Angel Yin (66) and first-round chief Polly Mack (69) have been 17 below, a stroke forward of Moriya Jutanugarn (64), Nataliya Guseva (67) and So Mi Lee (67).
“Course is pure,” Yin mentioned. “Simply attempting to make some birdies, play some good golf, as a result of I do know it’s going to be on the market and the chief goes to maintain going. I’m simply attempting to chase.”
Lauren Coughlin, the CPKC Ladies’s Open winner final week in Calgary, Alberta, was 15 below after a 66.
With the Olympics subsequent week, nobody from the highest 30 on this planet rating is within the area. The lone Olympian within the area is Aditi Ashok of India. She was tied for twelfth at 14 below after a 65.
Defending champion Chanettee Wannasaen had a 68 to get to 10 below. She gained the Dana Open two weeks in the past in Ohio for her second LPGA Tour title.
