"Wow!" This is crazy. Lee So-mi's "I'm afraid of 11 strokes." She cut it in just one day! Fantastic Eagle → 1st place alone, Lee Mi-hyang also reduced her by 9 strokes, ranking 'joint eighth' with Kim Hyo-joo [LPGA]

*This content was translated by AI.

Lee So-mi (27) jumped to first place with a whopping 11 under par in the second round, continuing her relentless run toward two wins on the LPGA Tour.

Lee So-mi tied an eagle and nine birdies without a bogey in the second round of the Honda LPGA Thailand (total prize money of $1.8 million) at the Siam Country Club Old Course (par 72) in Pattaya, Chonburi, Thailand on the 20th (Korea time).

As a result, Lee So-mi, who marked an interim total of 17-under 127, jumped from a tie for third the previous day to the lone first place. Lee So-mi dominated the top of the leaderboard by beating "world No. 1" Gino Thitikul (Thailand, 14-under 130), who received overwhelming support from home fans, by three strokes.

Lee So-mi's "11-under 61" on the day is her personal lowest shot, exceeding the first round (64 strokes) of the CME Group Tour Championship last year.

In addition, the interim total of 127 is also a new record for 36 holes in the Siam Country Club Old Course. Oh Soo-hyun, who held the previous record (128 strokes), Nasa Hanaoka (both 2022), and Patti Tabatanakit (both 2021), were confidently placed alone.

A perfect shot sense supported the fantastic record. Lee So-mi recorded a 100% fairway settlement rate on the day. It also left a powerful indicator of 88.9% of the green hit rate and 25 putts.

Lee So-mi opened with birdies in consecutive holes 1 and 2 and then made birdies in consecutive holes 4 to 6 and 8 to 9 respectively, reducing seven strokes in the first half alone.

The momentum continued in the second half. After making birdies in consecutive holes 10 to 11, he made a fantastic eagle on the 15th hole (par 4), drawing cheers from galleries. It was Lee So-mi, who continued her no-bogey march for two consecutive days, including six birdies the previous day.

Lee So-mi made her LPGA Tour debut in 2024. Last year, he was listed in the top 10 eight times in 27 LPHA Tour tournaments. The honor of winning his first championship came in June last year. He worked with Im Jin-hee (28) at the Dow Championship, a "two-man team" competition, and tasted his first victory after a close game. And this time, the second chance to win came in about eight months. Last month, he tied for ninth in the Hilton Grand Vacations Champions Tournament, the season opener.

Korean players had mixed feelings. Lee Mi-hyang swept 10 birdies (one bogey) and cut nine shots, before jumping to a joint eighth place (11-under 133) with Kim Hyo-joo. Yoo Hae-ran, who slowed down to even par the previous day, also jumped 34 spots to tie for 13th (8 under par 136).

On the other hand, players at the top were pushed out of the rankings. Choi Hye-jin, who was tied for third, only reduced two strokes and fell to 13th place. Yoon Na-na, in her second year, lost one shot and fell from a tie for sixth to a tie for 41st (4-under 140).

In addition, Kim Se-young tied for 27th (6 under par) and Ko Jin-young and Im Jin-hee tied for 33rd (5 under par). Lydia Ko (New Zealand) is chasing the lead with Iwai Chisato (Japan) tied for third (13-under 131). On the other hand, Angel (USA), the defending champion, is suffering from a slump, tied for 58th among 72 players (even par).

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*This content was translated by AI.