Ashleigh Buhai carded a level-par 72 on Friday to remain at two-under-par for the tournament as she headed into the weekend of the LPGA Tour’s Kia Classic at Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad, California.
Starting her round on the 10th, she dropped a shot on the 11th, but regained it with a birdie on the par-three 14th. She dropped another shot on the 15th, and, after the turn, she made her third bogey with a drop on the second. But she picked up two birdies coming home on the fifth and the ninth to close out her 72.
That left her seven shots off the pace of leader Inbee Park of South Korea, who added a three-under 69 to her opening six-under. She leads by one from Germany’s Sophia Popov, who had the best round of the day with her four-under 68, and by another two strokes from England’s Mel Reid.
Paula Reto improved in her second round to a four-over 76, and missed the cut with her 36-hole total of 10-over. That was one better than the returning Michelle Wie West, who missed out after her two-over 74 took her to 11-over for the tournament.