Haeran Ryu Leads After Two Rounds, Nelly Korda Lurks at AIG Women's Open

LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England — Months ago, if you had told me we'd get two straight days of blue skies and sunshine at the AIG Women's Open, I would've laughed in your face, and yet here we are.

Friday delivered another picture-perfect day at Royal Lytham & St Annes—and another leaderboard packed with star power, as Haeran Ryu grabbed the solo lead while Nelly Korda and a host of contenders stayed within striking distance.

Here's everything that happened in round two.

Let's talk about Nelly Korda and the gritty round of golf she pieced together, that included six birdies, several of which came from way downtown.

There were a few stumbles along the way, but for the most part the World No. 1 showed a great deal of improvement missing just three fairways on the day and going 14/18 on greens in regulation en route to her 68.

Her putting was still a bit on the shakier side taking 29 putts to complete her round, two better than her first round stats. After her round she said that she's been bringing in her caddie Jason McDede in to help her get a better sense of what she was (and wasn't) seeing. "Lag putts are fine. Obviously just want to be on the green and give yourself an opportunity. I've had Jason come in and read greens and I've actually lined it up. Just because you have to play wind here, too and I just wasn't really seeing the breaks too well," she explained.

"So that's kind of why I pulled Jay in. I don't normally do that. I like to do it myself so I'm confident in my own decisions. These are the weeks kind of that I usually always pull him in."

Korda now sits just six shots behind Haeran Ryu, who worked hard to put some space between herself and the rest of the field. After a startling double bogey on the fifth hole, Ryu would go on to make five birdies to take the 36-hole clubhouse lead by one stroke.

"I think I don't want to focus for on other players. I just keep just think about my golf and the golf course," said the two-time major championship, who could go for her third in just three starts. "So because a lot of great players in here, so that's why I just want to think about my golf. Because this is a major; nobody knows what comes up."

England's very own in Lottie Woad and Charley Hull also had themselves at bit of a day, each sitting five shots back at 2-under par.

Jeeno Thitikul followed up her spectacular day with a lackluster 2-over round of 73, but still finds herself in the mix as she searched for her first major title.

The former AIG champion played really solid, steady golf on Friday but her opening round mistakes cost her to miss the final major weekend by one stroke.

Hall returned to the place should found glory in back in 2018, and despite an early exit, coming back just six months after giving birth is impressive enough.

The defending champ's early exit is a bit of a shocking one, especially given her form just a week ago in Scotland.

She needed the bunny earmuffs from last week to power her through!

Majors are better when Minjee is in contention. Seeing her hit this lull has been rather disappointing and I hope she is able to find another gear late this summer and finish the year strong.

3:50 a.m. ET – Pia Babnik, Sara Kouskova

4:00 a.m. ET – Manon De Roey, Cara Gainer

4:10 a.m. ET – Nastasia Nadaud, Ayaka Furue

4:20 a.m. ET – Hyojoo Kim, Yunseo Yang (a)

4:30 a.m. ET – Alison Lee, Amelia Garvey

4:40 a.m. ET – Carla Tejedo Mulet, Patty Tavatanakit

4:50 a.m. ET – Maja Stark, Casandra Alexander

5:05 a.m. ET – Annabell Fuller, Alexandra Försterling

5:15 a.m. ET – Yuka Saso, Amy Yang

5:25 a.m. ET – Jinyoung Ko, Wei Ling Hsu

5:35 a.m. ET – Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, Mi Hyang Lee

5:45 a.m. ET – Ashleigh Buhai, Chizzy Iwai

5:55 a.m. ET – Arpichaya Yubol, Jenny Shin

6:05 a.m. ET – Lindy Duncan, Aki Iwai

6:20 a.m. ET – Yuna Araki, Sei Young Kim

6:30 a.m. ET – Amanda Doherty, Alice Hewson

6:40 a.m. ET – Dewi Weber, Brooke Henderson

6:50 a.m. ET – Hannah Green, Nasa Hataoka

7:00 a.m. ET – Ariya Jutanugarn, Rose Zhang

7:10 a.m. ET – Minji Kang, Shannon Tan

7:20 a.m. ET – Julia Lopez Ramirez, Mao Saigo

7:35 a.m. ET – Auston Kim, Anna Nordqvist

7:45 a.m. ET – Esther Henseleit, Rio Takeda

7:55 a.m. ET – Aunchisa Utama, Yana Wilson

8:05 a.m. ET – Kajsa Arwefjäll, Mimi Rhodes

8:15 a.m. ET – Nelly Korda, Lydia Ko

8:25 a.m. ET – Robyn Choi, Jinhee Im

8:35 a.m. ET – Céline Boutier, Lottie Woad

8:50 a.m. ET – Minami Katsu, Chanettee Wannasaen

9:00 a.m. ET – Charley Hull, Lauren Coughlin

9:10 a.m. ET – Paula Martín Sampedro (a), Lucy Li

9:20 a.m. ET – Jing Yan, Soobin Joo

9:30 a.m. ET – Yealimi Noh, Jeeno Thitikul

9:40 a.m. ET – Shiho Kuwaki, Haeran Ryu