Henderson takes lead in LPGA opener

WASHINGTON: Canada’s Brooke Henderson fired a four-under par 67 on Friday to grab a two-stroke lead after the second round of the LPGA’s season-opening Tournament of Champions golf.

Ninth-ranked Henderson closed a bogey-free round with seven pars in a row to stand on 10-under 132 after 36 holes at Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

World number one Ariya Jutanugarn was hot on Henderson’s heels after firing a second consecutive 67 to share second on 134 alongside New Zealand’s 14th-ranked Lydia Ko and South Korea’s 32nd-ranked Ji Eun-hee.

Henderson, a 21-year-old who has now gone 34 holes without a bogey, began the day level for the lead with Ji but jumped ahead with birdies at the fourth and par-5 seventh holes, then began the inward nine with back-to-back birdies.

Ariya, who had a bogey-free opening round, took bogeys at the par-3 fifth and 18th holes but sandwiched six birdies in between.

She birdied all four par-5 holes — the seventh, 10th, 13th and 17th — as well as the par-4 eighth and 16th.

Ko birdied the first and fourth holes before stumbling with a bogey at the fifth. She opened the back nine with a birdie and added another at 13 but bogeyed 15 before answering with a birdie at 17 in the new event, which matches LPGA winners and celebrities from other fields.