SEOUL — New Zealand world No. 2 Lydia Ko shot a bogey-free round of seven-under 65 Friday to seize the second-round lead at the LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship in the South Korean city of Incheon.

Ko started the second round seven strokes behind Park Sung-hyun, one of South Korea’s domestic star players, but held an outright one-shot lead with a birdie at the last.

Play at the par-72 course was delayed by more than one hour due to fog, but Ko opened her round with back-to-back birdies. “I think I put myself in good position,” Ko said. “But the weekend is where they say people try to go up the leaderboard. I’m just going to focus on one shot at a time tomorrow and just focus on my game, because I know there’s going to be a lot of great golf from a lot of great players.”

Lexi Thompson will be grouped with Ko thanks to a second round five-under par 67. “It is amazing to see,” said Thompson. “I have four more tournaments left after this, or three, and I go into every tournament wanting to win.”

Park struggled in round two with four bogeys in seven holes and posted a two-over par on Friday to fall into a tie for third with her compatriot Cho Yoon-Ji at eight-under par. Former world No. 1 Yani Tseng carded a 67 and is tied with South Korea’s Lee Mirim in fifth at seven-under par.

World No. 1 Park In-bee continued to struggle with the putter in round two, making it around in even par to remain at three-under par. A group of Americans including Alison Lee, Mo Martin, Jessica Korda, Michelle Wie and sponsor invite Juli Inkster are at one-under par.

Kuchar in charge

American Matt Kuchar raced to the top of the leaderboard in testing conditions on day two of the Fiji International in Suva Friday.

Kuchar, the world No. 16, only managed an even-par 72 to finish two over after the second round but it was enough to give him a two-shot lead over Australia’s Aron Price. Kiwi Ryan Fox and Australia’s David McKenzie were tied for third on five over in the Aus$1.125 million (US$820,000) event.

Local hero Vijay Singh, the three-time major winner who designed the Natadola Bay course, was 12th, while defending champion Steve Jeffress was struggling in 19th. Despite Fiji’s reputation as a tropical paradise, the round was played under leaden skies with strong winds bending the palm trees lining the course.

Australian Nick Cullen, who ended the day in a three-way tie for fifth, said conditions were tough. “It’s brutal,” he said. “You miss a shot and you’ve got pretty much no chance of getting up and down, or if you’re lucky enough to get up and down you miss a shot at the next hole anyway. — Agencies