Sei Young Kim carded a six-under-par 66 to seize a one-stroke lead after the second round of the BMW Ladies Championship, while Leona Maguire looks to be out of contention at the tournament in Haenam, Korea.
Maguire shot a disappointing round of 74 that left her on level par.
The Irish woman, who yesterday recovered from a poor start to eventually sign for a -2 round of 70, was unable to repeat the trick today and goes into the third round tied for 67th.
Starting on the 10th hole, Maguire made the turn in 38, having hit bogeys on the 14th and 17th. She went on to bogey the par-five second hole before claiming her only birdie of the round on the fifth.
Kim tied the 36-hole tournament scoring record at 16-under 128 by collecting seven birdies and one bogey on Friday at the Pine Beach Golf Links. Ashleigh Buhai also shot a 128 during the 2023 tournament at Seowon Valley Country Club.
Kim, the Korean is bidding her 13th LPGA Tour victory of her career and first in 2025, holds a one-shot lead over Brooke Matthews.
Matthews recorded a bogey-free 64 on Friday. Japan's Rio Takeda (66) and Korean Hyo Joo Kim (68) are tied for third place at 13-under.
"So it seems that we are getting a lot of birdies on this course, so tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, it's important to get the birdies as much as possible," Sei Young Kim said. "I hope to keep my play style as I did for the first day.
"Of course, there's a lot of pressure on the third and fourth day, but it's not just me. Everyone will have the same pressure. But I just want to accept the fact and enjoy the rest of the tournament."
For Kim, it marked the fourth time in her career that she has led or shared the lead following the first and second rounds at the same tournament on the LPGA Tour. She has not finished worse than third place each time, including the FM Championship earlier this year (third-place finish).
Minjee Lee (66) resides in a five-way tie for sixth place at 10-under, while defending champion and fellow Australian Hannah Green (69) and is nine strokes in back of the leader.
Sweden's Linn Grant recorded the round of the day with a 63. She had an eagle and seven birdies to sit in a tie for 11th place at nine-under.
