Park In-bee's Smooth Sailing "Leading Two Days in a Row"... Popov '1 Stroke Behind in 2nd Place'

Kia Classic Day 2: 3-Under Par Performance, Kim Hyo-joo 4th, Ko Jin-young Tied 10th, Kim Se-young and Park Sung-hyun 'Cut Off', Jeon In-ji 'Disqualified'

Inbee Park is carefully reading the line on the green of the 4th hole on the second day of the Kia Classic. Carlsbad, California, USA = Getty Images / Multibits

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] The "Golf Empress" Park In-bee (33, KB Financial Group) is sailing smoothly.

On the 27th (Korean time), at the Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad, California, USA (par 72, 6,609 yards), the second day of the 4th round of the 2021 LPGA Tour Kia Classic (total prize money $1.8 million) ended with Park posting 3 under par, maintaining her position at the top of the leaderboard for the second consecutive day (9 under par, 135 strokes). Sophia Popov (Germany) is in 2nd place (8 under par, 136 strokes), and Mel Reid (England) is in 3rd place (6 under par, 138 strokes), both in pursuit.

Park In-bee started with a one-stroke lead, recording 4 birdies and 1 bogey. She started off well with a birdie on the 12th hole (par 4), and in the back nine, she added 3 more birdies on holes 1, 3, and 5, continuing her impressive run. However, a bogey on the 7th hole (par 4) was a slight disappointment. She missed the green five times, which prevented her from creating more birdie opportunities. Her putting count for the round was 28. Leading by one stroke, she has a chance to claim her 21st career victory, her first in 1 year and 1 month since the Australian Women's Open last February.

For Korea, Kim Hyo-joo (26, Lotte) exchanged 3 birdies and 3 bogeys, failing to reduce her score. She is in 4th place, 4 strokes behind (5 under par, 139 strokes). World No. 1 Ko Jin-young (26) shot 1 under par to rise to a tie for 10th place (2 under par, 142 strokes). Hur Mi-jung (32, Daebang Construction) is also in this group. Former champions Ji Eun-hee (35, 2018 champion), Shin Ji-eun (29, Hanwha Q CELLS), and Yang Hee-young (32, Woori Financial Group) are tied for 37th place (1 over par, 145 strokes), aiming to climb higher.

2017 champion Lee Mi-rim (31, NH Investment & Securities) and Yoo So-yeon (31, Mediheal) are tied for 59th place (3 over par, 147 strokes). "Number 2" Kim Se-young (28, Mediheal), Park Sung-hyun (28), and Lee Jeong-eun 6 (25, Daebang Construction) are tied for 77th place (4 over par, 148 strokes), missing the cut. US Women's Open champion Kim A-rim (26, SBI Savings Bank) struggled in her official debut on the US stage, finishing tied for 96th place (6 over par, 150 strokes). Jeon In-ji (27, KB Financial Group) was disqualified for submitting her scorecard without signing it.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.