IRVING, Texas — Haru Nomura shot a 6-under 65 Friday for a two-round total of 133 and a one-shot lead in the North Texas LPGA Shootout.
Ariya Jutanugarn is second following a 67 with Suzann Pettersen another shot behind. Moriya Jutanugarn, Ariya’s older sister, is fourth at 136 along with two-time tournament winner Park In-bee and Marina Alex.
Lexi Thompson, playing in her first tournament since a rules violation cost her a likely victory in the season’s first major three weeks ago, shot a 72 after birdieing three of the first five holes. She’s nine shots behind at 142.
First-round leader M.J. Hur also shot a 72 and trails by four strokes. Hur led after 18 holes last year and tied for second place.
Moriya Jutanugarn, who is 16 months older than Ariya, aced the 135-yard 13th.
Dori Carter’s 8-under 63 broke the tournament record by one shot. Carter eagled the par-5 3rd hole with a sand wedge from about 70 yards. That highlighted a run of six straight sub-par holes.
Defending champion Jenny Shin followed Thursday’s 71 with a 72, trailing by 10.
Frittelli ahead in China
Dylan Frittelli continued his impressive recent form Saturday after carding a bogey-free eight-under-par 64 to take a three-shot lead into the final day of the China Open.
Challenge Tour graduate Frittelli followed up his clubhouse record-equalling 63 at Topwin golf and Country Club Friday with eight birdies to finish 19-under.
Overnight leader Pablo Larrazabal stretched the lead to four shots early in the day but two bogeys on the front nine saw him slip behind the South African Frittelli, who is in search of his first European Tour title.
The 33-year-old Spaniard recovered with three consecutive birdies from the 10th to post 70 on day three, the nearest challenger on the leaderboard. He was followed by 2014 winner Alexander Levy of France at 12-under-par for the tournament.
Levy stuttered in the beginning, losing two shots on the fourth-hole and needed birdies on the eighth, 11th and 15th to finish with 71.
Chris Wood found his groove on day three by firing six birdies on the front nine to card 65 and get up to 11-under-par.
The Englishman finished one shot clear of South Korean Moon Kyong-jun and last week’s winner Bernd Wiesberger of Austria.
Moon was spotless in his round of 66, while world No. 30 Wiesberger finished with a 69 after a mixed bag on the front nine which included two bogeys and an eagle.
Defending champion Li Haotong and Yi Cao shared the seventh spot and remained in contention alongside South African George Coetzee, England’s Ross Fisher and Lee Soo-min of South Korea.
Blixt-Smith in lead
Sweden’s Jonas Blixt and Australian Cameron Smith, liberated by Friday’s Four-Ball (best-ball) format, combined for a 10-under-par 62 to grab the halfway lead at the Zurich Classic team tournament at TPA Louisiana.
Blixt and Smith stood at 15-under-par 129 for a one-stroke lead over Americans Patrick Reed, the US Ryder Cup spark plug who feeds off team play, and Patrick Cantlay, who also put together a 62 despite gusty winds outside New Orleans.
Numerous teams went low, but none lower than South Africans Retief Goosen and Tyrone Van Aswegan, who posted a 12-under 60 to catapult up the leaderboard on 11 under par 133 after a bogey-free round that featuring 10 birdies and an eagle.
After the opening round of Foursomes (alternate shot), playing best-ball freed up the players to play more aggressively in the first team event on the PGA Tour in 36 years.
Tied for third two shots off the pace were South Koreans K.J. Choi and Charlie Wi, who came out of retirement to play, along with Americans Troy Merritt and Robert Streb.
Lurking three shots off the pace in a share of fifth were world No. 5 Jordan Spieth and fellow American Ryan Palmer, who struggled at times but tried to stay positive.
Two marquee duos featuring pairings of top 10 players failed to make the cut, set at seven-under par.
European Ryder Cup teammates Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose missed the cut by a stroke but still finished one shot better than Australian Jason Day and his American partner Rickie Fowler. — Agencies
