SOUTH KOREAN 1-2 AT HALFWAY IN AUSSIE WOMEN'S OPEN

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR
By BETHAN CUTLER, LET Media Manager
Melbourne, Australia: The US Women’s Open champion So Yeon Ryu from South Korea has taken a one-stroke lead over compatriot Hee Kyung Seo after the second round of the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open at Royal Melbourne.
Ryu is on a halfway total of 140, six under par after rounds of 71 and 69, while Seo followed up her opening round of 75 with a stunning seven under par 66 that included nine birdies and two dropped shots.
England’s Melissa Reid is a stroke further back in a share of third after successive rounds of 71 along with Paraguayan Julieta Granada and Americans Stacy Lewis and Jessica Korda.
Tied for seventh on one under are Germany’s Sandra Gal, Canadian Lorie Kane and Americans Brittany Lincicome and Cydney Clanton.
This week marks the first event of Ryu’s rookie season on the LPGA Tour. Although Ryu won the 2011 U.S. Women’s Open, she did it as a member of the KLPGA Tour and it was her victory there that earned her membership on the LPGA Tour for 2012.
Ryu is already off to a hot start in 2012 and appears to be emerging as one of the frontrunners for LPGA Rookie of the Year honours. Last week, Ryu finished second at the Gold Coast RACV Australian Ladies Masters, which is co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour and the ALPG Tour.
“This season my goal is Rookie of the Year,” Ryu said. “It is still the start of the season. I don't know if I can win this tournament. But the goal is Rookie of the Year.”
The round of the tournament currently belongs to last year’s LPGA Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year, Hee Kyung Seo. She shot a 7-under 66 on Friday to put herself within a shot of leader So Yeon Ryu. Seo bogeyed her opening hole, the 10th, before tallying birdies on six of her next eight holes.
She finished the day with a total of nine birdies and three bogeys to deliver the most impressive round on a course that’s proved difficult for the majority of players in the field.
“I was trying not to be afraid of the course,” Seo said. “Sometimes when I play this kind of course, I am afraid too much about the course and can't play my game and can't make my own swing. But today I was thinking about routine process and coming on the target and that worked really good.”
Friendly foes Seo and Ryu are no strangers to seeing themselves together at the top of a leaderboard. They competed frequently against each other on the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour.
Last July, Seo and Ryu dueled for the U.S. Women’s Open title with Ryu emerging victorious following a three-hole aggregate play-off. It marked the first all-international play-off in U.S. Women’s Open history.
Seo was asked what it’s like to face off against her fellow South Korean on this big stage once again. “I have played with her a lot of times in Korea and we know each other very well,” Seo said. “I know she is a great player. Sometimes we motivate each other.”
Scores were higher during Friday’s second round on the Composite Course at Royal Melbourne, as the course showed its teeth to the field and only 16 players managed to break par on the second day of play.
While threatening storms stayed away from Royal Melbourne this afternoon (local time), the wind picked up and made scoring a bit tougher for the players.
A total of 49 players shot 80-or-higher today and after two rounds of play, only nine players remain under par for the tournament.
It didn’t take long after she finished play for Rolex Rankings No. 1 Yani Tseng to second guess a few of the decisions that she made on the seventh hole of her round. The hole was one that Tseng would rather just forget, as she recorded a quadruple bogey 8 on the par-4 which sent her into a short tailspin in the middle of her round.
After pulling her tee shot left on No. 7, Tseng found her ball in an unplayable lie. She took a drop, which was still in the deep grass, and from there, things turned ugly. It took her three more shots to get the ball back in the fairway and she still had 93 yards remaining for her sixth shot onto the green. Tseng managed to hit it on the green and two putt to finish off the "snowman,"(shape of the figure 8) which she said was her first 8 since last year’s Evian Masters.
Afterward, Tseng said that she regretted not choosing a better way to get out of the trouble in the first place. “My first instinct was to go back to the tee,” Tseng said. “I should have decided that way too, to save a couple shots.” Tseng then followed up her 8 on the seventh with back-to-back bogeys on No. 8 and 9, putting her six-over-par in a stretch of three holes that she said “felt like they took me forever.”
But the world No. 1 still managed to get things back on track as she shot 2-under on her back nine to finish the day with a three-over 76. And heading into the weekend, Tseng is still only six shots back of the lead.
“I mean [after the 8] I almost cried,” Tseng said. “But no I didn’t. I hung in there and I did a good job. I’m glad I was able to fight back on the back nine." A total of 73 players made the cut, which fell at 7-over-par 153.
Rookie Lexi Thompson celebrated her 17th birthday today. She shot her second straight 1-over 74 and currently sits in a tie for 19th at 2-over-par. Rolex Rankings No. 2 Suzann Pettersen bounced back from an opening-round 80 to shoot a 2-under 71 and make the cut.
In a stretch of seven holes on the back nine on Friday, Stacy Lewis recorded an eagle, two birdies, three bogeys and a triple – putting her a combined 2-over on that stretch.
Last week’s Australian Ladies Masters champion on the LET Tour, Christel Boeljon, shot 82 today to miss the cut by three shots.
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 146 (2x73) Length 5,976 metres. Royal Melbourne GC Composite Course
140: So Yeon Ryu (SKOR) 71 69.
141: Hee Kyung Seo (SKOR) 75 66.
142: Melissa Reid (ENG) 71 71, Jessica Korda (USA) 72 70, Stacy Lewis (USA) 69 73, Julieta Granada (PAR) 70 72.
145: Brittany Lincicome (USA) 70 75, Lorie Kane (CAN) 72 73, Sandra Gal (GER) 71 74.
146: Jiyai Shin (SKOR) 72 74, Nikki Campbell (AUS) 72 74, Katie Futcher (USA) 74 72, Sophie Giquel-Bettan (FRA) 72 74, Yani Tseng (TPE) 70 76, Jenny Shin (SKOR) 72 74, Cydney Clanton (USA) 74 72.
147: Sandra Changkija (USA) 75 72, Victoria Tanco (ARG) 72 75.
148: Becky Morgan (WAL) 77 71, Ha-Neul Kim (SKOR) 77 71, Gwladys Nocera (FRA) 74 74, Sarah Kemp (AUS) 69 79, Beatriz Recari (ESP) 76 72, Lexi Thompson (USA) 74 74, Jennifer Johnson (USA) 73 75.
149: Mo Martin (USA) 76 73, Angela Stanford (USA) 75 74, Meaghan Francella (USA) 73 76, Lee-Anne Pace (RSA) 75 74, Belen Mozo (ESP) 72 77, Gerina Piller (USA) 72 77.
150: Lynnette Brooky (NZL) 78 72, Lydia Ko (NZL) (am) 74 76, Mina Harigae (USA) 78 72, Caroline Hedwall (SWE) 73 77, Karrie Webb (AUS) 75 75, Morgan Pressel (USA) 76 74, Meena Lee (SKOR) 76 74, Cathleen Santoso (am, AUS) 75 75.
151: Annie Choi (am, KOR) 75 76, Danielle Kang (USA) 75 76, Kristy McPherson (USA) 76 75, Jimin Kang (SKOR) 72 79, Suzann Pettersen (NOR) 80 71, Ryann O'Toole (USA) 76 75, Cindy LaCrosse (USA) 77 74, Eun-Hee Ji (KOR) 72 79, Brittany Lang (USA) 74 77, Azahara Munoz (ESP) 76 75.
152: Jodi Ewart (ENG) 75 77, Kyeong Bae (KOR) 77 75, Stephanie Na (AUS) 80 72, Beth Allen (USA) 77 75, Christine Song (USA) 78 74, Tiffany Joh (USA) 78 74, Amanda Blumenherst (USA) 74 78, Jody Fleming (AUS) 74 78, Joanna Klatten (FRA) 74 78.
153: Ashleigh Simon (RSA) 72 81, Alison Whitaker (AUS) 77 76, Lindsey Wright (AUS) 79 74, Katherine Hull (AUS) 81 72, Hee-Won Han (KOR) 74 79, Anna Nordqvist (SWE) 76 77, Chella Choi (KOR) 74 79, Cristie Kerr (USA) 75 78, Jennifer Song (USA) 74 79, Alison Walshe (USA) 74 79, Karin Sjodin (SWE) 77 76, Rebecca Lee-Bentham (CAN) 73 80, Su-Hyun Oh (am, AUS) 76 77, Janice Moodie (SCO) 73 80, Giulia Sergas (ITA) 74 79.
MISSED THE CUT
154: Caroline Bon (NZL) 79 75, Kym Larratt (ENG) 73 81, Virginie Lagoutte-Clement (FRA) 80 74, Dewi Claire Schreefel (NED) 76 78, Dori Carter (USA) 75 79, Meredith Duncan (USA) 75 79, Heather Bowie Young (USA) 79 75, Diana Luna (ITA) 73 81, Kristie Smith (AUS) 76 78, Sun Young Yoo (SKOR) 74 80, Haru Nomura (JPN) 75 79, Sarah Oh (AUS) 71 83.
155: Courtney Massey (AUS) 76 79, Becky Brewerton (WAL) 78 77, Inbee Park (KOR) 78 77, Haeji Kang (SKOR) 77 78, Wendy Doolan (AUS) 82 73, Mindy Kim (USA) 77 78, Sarah Jane Smith (AUS) 76 79, Hannah Yun (USA) 79 76, Jane Rah (USA) 75 80, Na On Min (SKOR) 74 81, Jessica Speechley (AUS) 71 84.
156: Marianne Skarpnord (NOR) 74 82, Karen Lunn (AUS) 78 78, Numa Gulyanamitta (THA) 78 78, Christel Boeljon (NED) 74 82, Sophie Gustafson (SWE) 80 76, Hae-Rym Kim (SKOR) 78 78, Caroline Masson (GER) 76 80, Stephanie Sherlock (CAN) 74 82.
157: Frances Bondad (AUS) 81 76, Jane Park (USA) 81 76, Karine Icher (FRA) 77 80, Hee Young Park (KOR) 76 81, Christina Kim (USA) 75 82, Ashlee Dewhurst (am, AUS) 78 79, Ji Young Oh (SKOR) 75 82.
158: Danielle Montgomery (ENG) 82 76, Candie Kung (TPE) 79 79, Amy Hung (TPE) 78 80, Tamie Durdin (AUS) 76 82, Laura Diaz (USA) 82 76, Song-Hee Kim (SKOR) 80 78, Jin Young Pak (SKOR) 73 85, Felicity Johnson (ENG) 77 81, Rebecca Flood (AUS) 80 78, Pernilla Lindberg (SWE) 77 81, Rachel Bailey (AUS) 79 79, Ilhee Lee (SKOR) 80 78.
159: Kathleen Ekey (USA) 79 80, Kris Tamulis (USA) 81 78, Laura Davies (ENG) 74 85, Minea Blomqvist (FIN) 80 79, Nikki Garrett (AUS) 78 81, Rebecca Codd (IRE) 77 82.
160: Vicky Thomas (AUS) 76 84, Tamara Johns (AUS) 85 75, Angela Oh (USA) 84 76, Sydnee Michaels (USA) 76 84, Cathryn Bristow (NZL) 77 83, Ayaka Kaneko (JPN) 80 80.
161: Katelyn Must (AUS) 83 78, Karlin Beck (USA) 81 80, Lisa Ferrero (USA) 79 82, Line Vedel (DEN) 76 85, Julia Boland (AUS) 73 88.
162: Irene Cho (USA) 83 79, Vicky Hurst (USA) 82 80, Jennie Lee (USA) 79 83. 163: Joanne Mills (AUS) 81 82, Paige Mackenzie (USA) 80 83.
164: Linda Wessberg (SWE) 80 84, Kiran Matharu (ENG) 83 81, Stacey Keating (AUS) 87 77, Kendall Dye (USA) 81 83.
165: Bree Arthur (AUS) 85 80, Samantha Whittle (AUS) 76 89.
167: Kate Little (AUS) 81 86, Pornanong Phatlum (THA) 85 82, Rachel Jennings (ENG) 82 85.
170: Stephanie Kono (USA) 78 92. 173: Jessica Parker (AUS) 91 82.