Ko tied for fifth in San Francisco

  • 23/04/2016
Lydia Ko (Reuters)
Lydia Ko (Reuters)

Kiwi golfer Lydia Ko has eased fractionally up the leaderboard after battling challenging conditions at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic in San Francisco.

Ko's opening four-under 68 had left her five shots off the pace set by South Korean So Yeon Ryu's flawless nine-under 63.

The world No.1 began her second round on Saturday (NZT) in promising fashion, birdying three of her first four holes.

She went on to par the next 10 holes but finished with bogeys at the 15th and 17th.

Ko finished the rainy, blustery day at Lake Merced on one-under 71, and sits in a tie for fifth with three others on a two-round total of 139.

Overnight leader So Reon Ryu couldn't back up her opening round 63, carding three-over 75 to slip down to a share of second place.

Japan's Haru Nomura holds a three-shot lead at nine-under 135 ahead of Australian Minjee Lee, Ryu and Na Yeon Choi (both South Korea).

Ko is hunting her third successive Swinging Skirts title, and will become just the 11th player in LPGA history to win the same event three times on end if she does so.

Newshub.