England’s Charley Hull fired a second-round 69 to sit two shots off the halfway lead held by Lilia Vu at the Ford Championship in Arizona.
Hull followed her opening 63 with four birdies and a single bogey to move to 12-under-par and a share of second place.
Two-time major champion Vu managed eight birdies in her 64 to move clear of Hull, defending champion Nelly Korda, Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand, who also shot 64, and Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen.
Hull said: “I felt like I played pretty solid out there today. I holed some good putts and I missed some that I probably should have holed, but it was a bit windy out there today.
“It was a little bit trickier on some of the holes but I’m pretty happy with that and looking forward to the weekend.”
Hull is chasing a third LPGA Tour victory
Vu is going into the weekend on 14-under-par 130 without having made a bogey.
“Just focused on the shot in front of me and getting from point A to point B,” Vu said. “That really kind of helped me. Somehow just happened to play well. Felt like everything was grooving in the right spot.”
Korda and Thitikul are No 1 and 2 in the women’s world rankings. Thitikul had a birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie start and was six-under through six holes. She shot 29 on her opening nine, with Korda at 31. Thitikul finished on 64, with Korda on 65.
“It was like a great tempo. We kept our rhythm really nicely,” Korda said. “When everyone is playing nicely, you kind of feed off each other as well.”
Lydia Ko got within five shots of the lead. She said: “Just with how firm the course is, I was kind of scratching my head on the 11th thinking, ‘Why does it feel like I had a poor ball-striking day?’
“I didn’t, but just with how firm the greens are sometimes, it’s really hard to get really close to the pins.”
“I’ve just got to keep my head high and hit one shot at a time,” she added. “I think that’s what led to the good finish today.”
Watch the Ford Championship throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Coverage continues from 10pm on Saturday on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Golf. Stream with NOW.
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