Feb 23, 2018: Jessica Korda, who is making her season debut after offseason jaw surgery, canned a brilliant left-to-right birdie putt over a ridge on hole 15 to move into the lead, which she’ll hold into the weekend. Korda was dynamite in round two with eight birdies and a closing eagle to post a personal best and Siam Country Club course record 10-under 62 and stands atop the Honda LPGA Thailand at 16-under, which breaks the 36-hole tournament scoring record. She started to pull away from the field with four birdies in a row between holes 13 and 16.
Korda closed with a 29 on the back nine.
“I struggle on this course every year, but this year I have a whole new outlook with everything I’m doing,” explained the 24-year-old Korda. “It’s awesome. I was just trying to give myself a chance. It was pretty cool, a pretty cool round.”
Korda, who has 27 screws holding together her jaw, has dealt with a lot over the last year, but is position to chase her first win on Tour since the 2015 Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia.
“Basically, I had double jaw surgery,” said Korda. “I have a couple screws in my face. I still can’t feel anything. No pain at all on the course, just numb. The headaches are gone.”
Lexi Thompson, who won in Thailand in 2016, made a flurry of birdies during the middle of her second round to stay close to Korda, but received a two-stroke penalty for moving a temporary immovable obstruction on hole 15 and dipped from 12-under to 10-under. She made six birdies during an eight-hole stretch to card a 4-under 68. Meanwhile, Brittany Lincicome, an eight-time winner on Tour, turned in a 7-under 65.to stand in second at 12-under.
“It was great out there, me, Jess (Korda) and Brooke (Henderson) were doing well and feeding off each other,” said Lincicome. “It’s nice to see the ball going straight and the ball going in since it’s only my second event of the year.”
Korda breaks course record, Lincicome in second at Honda LPGA Thailand
LPGA Tour Release
