Fw: Hae Rym Kim leads as play suspended overnight

Georgia Hall

From  Bethan Cutler, LET


Haikou, China - Saturday 18th March 2017: Hae Rym Kim, pictured right, held a one stroke clubhouse lead on 11-under-par at the SGF67 World Ladies Championship with SBS at Mission Hills Haikou in China as play was suspended for the day at 4.59pm due to electrical storms and then bad light.

Fellow South Korean Seon Woo Bae, who was about to play her third shot to the Blackstone Course's 18th green when the siren sounded and needs a birdie to tie for the lead, is one of the players who will resume their second rounds at 7.15am on Sunday, before the final round.

Meanwhile, overnight leader Georgia Hall recorded her second-round score of two-under-par 71 just in time to avoid an early alarm call. She is currently lying in third place, three shots from the lead, having recovered from a shaky start.

One ahead going into the second round, the English 20-year-old had slipped eight shots adrift of the lead after playing the front nine in three-over-par, with a bogey on the fourth followed by a double bogey at the short eighth, however she made five birdies on the back nine, at holes 11, 12, 14, 16 and 17.

Hall said: "The front nine is so much harder than the back nine and I thought before I teed off, if I can go around the front nine in level par, I'll be happy. I was just hanging on to three-over and then I holed a 20-footer on 10 to stay three-over and then I got a birdie on 11 and I started playing well from there.

"I didn't play badly on the front nine, it was just so windy and about a two-and-a-half club wind. I got a few clubs wrong and I was struggling to find where the wind was going. I hit good shots, but they were around 20 feet past the hole, so I never really had a birdie chance on the front nine.

"I played well again today and putted well. I think I had 27 putts, so I knew my game was there, I just had to be more patient for the back nine where there are more birdie opportunities, which I managed to take."

Kylie Henry is a shot further behind in fourth position, within sight of a third Ladies European Tour title. The Scot also had 27 putts as she carded a three-under-par 70 for a 36-hole total of seven-under-par, having posted an eagle, five birdies and four bogeys in her second round.

The two-time LET winner, who picked up victories in the Netherlands and Germany in 2014, tied the knot with European Tour professional Scott Henry on 29th December and will jet off to Thailand for her honeymoon after the final round on Sunday. While she will leave her clubs behind for the eight-night trip to Ko Samui, she hopes to carry the trophy with her.

She said: "I'm just really excited for tomorrow and happy to be in the position that I'm in. I'll try to play well again and do the best that I possibly can. It's been Korean dominance in this event, but there are a few LET players on the leader board so hopefully one of us can take the trophy home."

Florentyna Parker, who started at the 10th and was four-under for her first three holes, is a shot further back in a share of fifth place with South Korean Jin young Ko on six-under-par and she said: "It was a great wake-up call this morning, starting birdie, birdie, eagle. That basically got me going and I didn't do much after that."

The two-time LET winner birdied the long 18th for a back nine of five-under and played the front nine in level par, with a birdie on the second and a bogey on the seventh hole.

"I played quite nicely yesterday but wasn't near the pin as I got some of the wrong slopes and today it seemed to be more in my favour. I'm looking forward to tomorrow," Parker added.

Kim, who had six birdies in a bogey-free round, said: "I made the most of the par-5 holes out there and had six birdies. Today, the wind was blowing a bit more than yesterday, but I think that was the reason I was able to score well."

Earlier in the day, Patricia Sanz Barrio from Spain made her first hole-in-one at the 180-yard par-3 11th hole using a 19-degree hybrid and was presented with a bottle of fizz after her round. She said: "I have never had a hole-in-one before and I thought it would be close, but I didn't know. We all saw the ball go into the hole. It bounced in and we were like, 'woah!'"

Once the second round has been completed and the cut has been made to the leading 60 players and ties, a draw for the third round will be released. The third and final round is scheduled to commence at approximately 10am local time, with a live television broadcast from 1.30pm until the scheduled completion of play at 5pm.

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