Korda closes in at US Women's Open as Lee takes joint lead

Nelly Korda hit the lowest round of the day to bounce back from a tough first round; Alison Lee and Ruoning Yin take a joint one-shot lead; watch the US Women's Open live on Sky Sports with third-round coverage live on Sky Sports Mix from 10pm on Saturday

>Alison Lee seized a share of the lead at the US Women's Open on Friday with a second-round 68 in her native Los Angeles area, joining Ruoning Yin at four-under 138 atop a crowded leaderboard at Riviera.

>World No 1 Nelly Korda jumped into the hunt for her first Women's Open title by shooting the day's lowest round at 67, leaving her just two shots back after struggling Thursday.

>Opening-round leader Jennifer Kupcho, Sei Young Kim and Mexico's Gaby Lopez were in a group of six at 3-under 139, while Korda and three others were at 140.

>The venerable course at this 100-year-old country club is hosting its first US Women's Open, and it remained unforgiving for the world's best.

>Only two players managed a bogey-free round Friday - including China's Yin, who semi-jokingly called Riviera "passive aggressive" despite being the only player in the field to shoot two sub-70 rounds so far.

>"I love it," Yin said. "I always say that the more difficult (the course), the better."

>Yin carded her second straight 69 in the same city where she earned her first LPGA Tour victory in 2023, a couple of months before she won the Women's PGA Championship.

>She tied for fourth at last year's US Open at Erin Hills.

>Lee played under par for the second straight day at Riviera, highlighted by back-to-back birdies just before the turn.

>The new mother's first two rounds are an extension of a strong start to the season that includes a third-place finish at the Mizuho Americas Open four weeks ago.

>"To win in basically my backyard, where I grew up, would be super cool," Lee said.

>"I don't want to get ahead of myself ... but if you'd told me I would be in this spot at the beginning of the week, I probably would have started crying."

>The 31-year-old Lee is a two-time Solheim Cup participant, but she has yet to win on the LPGA Tour while managing just two top-10 finishes at 44 majors.

>"I'm not going to lie, it's been very tough," Lee said. "I've gone through a few stages, a few slumps, if you want to call it, in my career, even since I was like 15 years old. ... no matter what I did, no matter how much I practiced, it just wasn't going my way."

>Lee then took most of last year off for the birth of her son, Levi.

>While she says her sleep rhythms are regularly interrupted by her 13-month-old these days, her parents and extended family in Valencia have relieved some of the burden during the Open.

>Levi was in attendance for Friday's round, but Lee's partner only brought him out to watch the 18th hole because the youngster has a tendency to get excited: He yelled "Ball!" during his mom's backswing at The Chevron Championship earlier this year.

>With family around her, Lee is finally having the moment she had long anticipated.

>"I feel like I've definitely underachieved what I could have done out here on tour," Lee said.

>"It's definitely been really frustrating. I'm at a point now where I've truly accepted it, but like I said, that's part of why I want to come back and play. I feel like I was so close so many times."

>Kim was one shot behind Kupcho after the opening round, and she was thrust into the lead early in the second despite shooting one over on the front nine.

>She bogeyed the 18th to drop her share of the lead in one of the day's final groups. Kupcho scuffled to a second-round 73 after carding the only 66 of the tournament so far on Thursday.

>England's Charley Hull is three-over-par after a bogey on the 18th hole in round two bumped her one-over-par for the day, pushing her further off the leaders.

>Lottie Woad just survived the cut after a second plus-two round that saw her hit four bogeys and two birdies.

>Playing the U.S. Women's Open while seven months pregnant is no problem for Madelene Sagstrom 🤰🏌️‍♀️ pic.twitter.com/gDZsWpSdzl

>Madelene Sagstrom, who is seven months pregnant, improved on her round one performance and hit two birdies, but with a collection of bogeys alongside them, her five-over 76 round two meant she didn't make the cut.

>Ireland's Leona Maguire struggled to 75 to take her nine-over after two rounds and therefore also didn't make the cut.

>Watch the US Women's Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports, with third-round coverage starting on Saturday at 10pm on Sky Sports Mix. Get Sky Sports or stream golf with no contract