Ha Na Jang charges clear in LPGA Taiwan Championship with a 62
Saturday 8 October 2016 10:34, UK
Ha Na Jang fired a 10-under 62 in calmer conditions at rainy Miramar to take a six-stroke lead in the Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship.
After shooting a 69 in high wind and early rain on Friday for a share of the lead with fellow South Korean player Hee Young Park, Jang had her lowest score in her two-year LPGA Tour career and matched the best round in the three years the event has been played at Miramar.
The 24-year-old, who is chasing her third victory of the year, started quickly with a wedge to three feet on the opening hole and hit another to five feet on the fifth.
She then holed putts of 10 feet on the sixth, eight feet from the fringe on the seventh, and 15 feet on the ninth before chipping in for birdie from 15 feet on 11 and making a 12-footer on the 12th.
Jang also birdied three of the last four holes to reach 16-under 200, hitting a wedge to four feet on 15, making a 30-foot putt on 16 and closing her bogey-free round with a tap-in on 18 after a flop shot that landed on a ridge and trickled down to the hole.
"I want keep my scorecard always inside my pocket," said Jang.
South Korea's Inbee Park set the Miramar mark of 62 in 2014 and England's Jodi Ewart Shadoff tied it earlier on Saturday.
China's Shanshan Feng is Jang's nearest challenger after a 67, with Hee Young Park another shot back following a 69, while Canada's Brooke Henderson and South Africa's Lee-Anne Pace each shot 69 to get to eight under.
"I don't really look at leaderboards," Feng said. "But somebody else told me Ha Na shot like 62 today. ... Somebody shot 62 today. Maybe I'll shoot 62 tomorrow. Who knows?"
Shadoff is tied for eighth place at six under. After opening with rounds of 78 and 70, she birdied 10 of the first 15 holes and closed with three pars.
"It was getting the ball in the fairway," Shadoff said. "The rough out here is so thick that it's really hard to get spin from the rough. It's tough even chipping from around the greens. So, I was just in the fairway."
Defending champion Lydia Ko is tied for 16th at four under after a 69. The top-ranked New Zealander won by nine strokes last year at 20 under.
