South Korea's Inbee Park shot her second consecutive five-under-par 66 to top the leaderboard ahead of American Stacy Lewis after the second round of the women's Olympic golf tournament on Thursday.
The 28-year-old Park, who missed two months of the season due to injuries, made five birdies in a bogey-free back nine to take a one-shot lead over Lewis in benign conditions.
“I was in the second to last group and we didn't have much wind, which is very lucky,” Park told reporters. “You've got to take advantage of those good conditions. We just don't know what's going to happen for the next two days.”
Park, however, felt the real challenge was still to come. “The next two rounds, I think everybody kind of knows the golf course and the real game begins,” the former world number one said.
Twice major champion Lewis, who shot 70 in the opening round, carded a sparkling eight-under-par 63. Canada's Brooke Henderson and Britain's Charley Hull were also well placed to compete for the first gold medal in women's golf since 1900 after shooting rounds of 63 and 66 respectively.
Thailand's Ariya Jutanugarn, who led after the first round on Wednesday, fell down the leaderboard after shooting a second-round 71.
The surprise was Aditi Ashok, the 18-year-old from India who had another 68 and was four shots out of the lead.
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