World no. 8 Yuka Saso carved a better performance on the day with a 2-under 70 and climbed a few notches higher to a tie of 32nd place in the 2021 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at The Highlands Course in Atlanta, Georgia, US, Friday.
After an up-and-down opener, the 19-year-old was steady at the backside for this round where she got pars all-around, except for one hole.
Saso got it working in No. 13 and she took down the par-4 hole with one less shot, and she went into the clubhouse back to square one at even par.
The Filipino standout then needed just three shots for another par-4 hole in no. 1 to reach 1-under for the first time since her birdie of no. 5 the previous day.
A double bogey at no. 4 pushed her back to over par, but Saso restored her 1-under scorecard after back-to-back birdies in the sixth and seventh negated that blunder.
Dottie Ardina, on the other hand, also went 2-under for the round, duplicating her score from the first round to keep her place inside the top 10 with 4-under 140
The 27-year-old tour veteran had a rough start with two bogeys at the front nine and emerged a stroke over her starting point to 1-under.
Nonetheless, she came up strong in the backside where her three birdies in No. 10 and back-to-back at nos. 17 and 18 catapulted her back into contention.
That could not be said for Bianca Pagdanganan who missed the cut this time with a final scorecard of 6-over 150.
The 23-year-old really had a hard-pressed day after she bungled on four holes, three of them coming from the front nine.
Americans Nelly Korda and Lizette Salas created a bit of a separation from the pack with 11-under and 10-under, seven and six strokes ahead of Ardina.
Saso and Ardina will attempt to climb up the ranks as the tour’s third major championship of the year continues on Saturday.
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