S. Korea's Lee Bo-Mee takes Mizuno Classic lead

AFP
Lee Bo-Mee of South Korea tees off

SHIMA, Japan (AFP) –

Lee Bo-Mee of South Korea tees off during the second round of the USLPGA Tour Mizuno Classic golf tournament in Japan. Lee hit an excellent bogey-free round with eight birdies for a 64 to take a comfortable four-stroke lead in the USLPGA Tour Mizuno Classic tournament

Lee Bo-Mee of South Korea hit an excellent bogey-free round with eight birdies for a 64 to take a comfortable four-stroke lead in the USLPGA Tour Mizuno Classic tournament on Saturday.

The 24-year-old Korean, the winner at the PRGR Ladies Cup this season on the Japan Tour, now has a two-round total of 10-under-par 134 in the $1.2 million tournament.

“I don’t have any plans to go to the LPGA. But I will think about trying for it again in two or three years,” said Lee, the 2010 Korean tour Player of the Year.

Japan’s Rikako Morita trailed Lee on 138 after hitting one eagle and five birdies against three bogeys on the 6,506-yard par-72 Kashikojima Country Club course.

Morita credited her mentor, 1987 LPGA Player of the Year Ayako Okamoto.

“There were times that I couldn’t make my short putts and I tried to figure out what exactly I was doing wrong,” Morita said of Friday’s first round.

“I talked to Ms. Okamoto and she told me I have been looking at the club head too much and I should just keep my eyes still.

“It may seem like a small piece of advice but it helped greatly.”

US Open champion Choi Na-Yeon was in third on on 140, tied with fellow South Korean Jenny Shin, Karine Icher of France, American Angela Stanford and joint overnight leader Ayako Uehara of Japan.

Defending champion Momoko Ueda of Japan ended the round with one birdie against one bogey to move back to joint eighth alongside joint overnight leader and two-time champion Shin Ji-Yai of South Korea, and world number one Yani Tseng of Taiwan.

Shin, the British Open champion, had two birdies against three bogeys.