South Korea's Ryu So-Yeon and Sweden's Anna Nordqvist fired five-under par 67s on Friday to share the second-round lead with Thailand's Pornanong Phatlum at the LPGA Lorena Ochoa Invitational.
Ryu and Nordqvist finished with birdies at the par-5 18th while Pornanong could muster only a par, leaving them tied at the top of the leaderboard on nine-under 135.
American 18-year-old Lexi Thompson, who fired the day's low round with a 64, shared third on 136 with compatriot Gerina Piller and Park In-Bee, who is trying to become the first South Korean to claim LPGA seasonal Player of the Year honors.
Ryu played the front nine level but opened the back nine with back-to-back birdies and birdied 14 and 16 as well as the last.
Nordqvist opened with a birdie, followed with her only bogey at the third, then birdied the seventh and back-to-back birdies at 11 and 12 plus another at 15 allowed her to close with a birdie.
Pornanong had back-to-back birdies at the par-3 sixth and seven, then answered her lone bogey at the eighth with a birdie to close the front nine. She fired eight pars and a birdie at the 16th on the back side.
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