Ko moves up the leaderboard

New Zealander Lydia Ko made a good move up the field today in the women’s golf tournament to finish the second round in equal 9th place, but will still rue the opportunities she missed.

Ko, 24, the silver medallist in Rio, opened the day with a bogey, but went on to make seven birdies in an eight -holes stretch so that leaving the 10th, she was 6 under for the day and looking at a really low score.

Instead she recorded two late bogeys and had to settle for a 4 under par 67 to go with her opening round 70. At the halfway point in the tournament is on 137, 5 under par, having gained seven positions on the field during the day.

The runaway leader is American Nelly Korda who had a brilliant 9 under par 62 and is now 13 under on 129.

Ko leads several of the pre-tournament favourites. Jessica Korda, the leader’s sister, is 4 under, alongside fellow American Jessica Kang, and defending champion Inbee Park of Korea is 3 under.

Not everyone is enjoying a birdie-fest. Two former world No 1s Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand and American Lexi Thompson are 2 over and 1 over respectively and talented Canadian Brooke Henderson is tied for 34th in the field of 60 with a par score.