Jutanugarn moves up to share the lead

First rain, then lightning.

Although Ko Olina Golf Club was bathed in sunshine throughout Thursday morning and into the afternoon, West Oahu weather forced a delay in the Lotte Championship for a second straight day and stretched the second round into this morning.

A day after a downpour halted play for 45 minutes, the threat of lightning chased the players off the course for more than an hour, and 15 had yet to complete the second round when play was suspended by darkness at 7:04 p.m.

When play resumes this morning, the field will continue its pursuit of three players atop the leaderboard. Ariya Jutanugarn and In-Kyung Kim shot into the lead at 9 under in Thursday’s morning wave. Su-Yeon Jang joined them in the afternoon and has two holes left to play in the second round today.

Former world No. 1 Stacy Lewis, first-round co-leader Mi Hyang Lee and Alena Sharp finished the day at 8 under, with Becky Morgan also part of that group when she heads back to No. 8 today to finish the second round.

The second round is scheduled to resume today at 7:45 a.m., with the third round to start at 9:45. The third-round tee times will be announced after the completion of the second round.

The morning groups on Thursday took advantage of scoring conditions to crowd the top of the leaderboard and Jutanugarn — the reigning Rolex Player of the Year and the third-ranked player in the world — moved into the lead at 9 under with a bogey-free round of 6-under-par 66.

Jutanugarn was 17 when she posted a 64 in her Lotte debut in 2013 and went on to finish third. She started Thursday’s round on No. 10 and made her move with three consecutive birdies before the turn and added three more in her final five holes on the front side.

“I didn’t hit the ball that good, but my putting (worked) pretty good today,” Jutanugarn said.

Kim, who finished in the top five in her previous two Lotte appearances, vaulted into contention with an 8-under 64 to catch Jutanugarn.

Kim’s round extended her odd-year success at Ko Olina after tying for fourth in 2013 and finishing third in 2015. She finished off her lowest round in the tournament by rolling in a 9-foot putt on the challenging 18th hole for her ninth birdie of the day.

“I love it here,” said Kim, who blitzed through a run of five straight birdies midway through the round. “You never know what the conditions (will be), so I just go out with an open mind.”

Lewis, making her first appearance at Lotte since 2013, charged out with four birdies in her first five holes of the afternoon to move to 8 under. She had leveled off when the horn signaling a suspension of play sounded at 3:31 p.m.

When play resumed after the rain, she returned to a humid and nearly windless course and managed to grind to a second straight 4-under 68.

“It was a lot different,” Lewis said of the course conditions after the delay. “The wind that was there was the complete opposite. Hard part was you had in your head the way you were going to play the next few holes, then all of a sudden it’s a complete change.

“It was just hard at the end of the day. The greens got slower, too. I would say that was the biggest difference: speed of the greens at the end of the day.”

Jang won twice on the Korean LPGA last year and was given a sponsor’s invitation into this week’s field. Following a bogey-free 67 on Wednesday, the 22-year-old was at 4 under on Thursday before play was suspended.

The first round concluded Thursday morning with Lee and Paula Creamer tied for the lead at 6 under. While Lee maintained contact with the leaders, Creamer slipped back with a 2-over 74.

Lydia Ko recovered from a 1-over start on Wednesday with a round of 3 under to climb above the cut line as she works to fend off So Yeon Ryu for the No. 1 ranking. Ryu fired a 69 to move to 7 under through 36 holes.

The top 70 plus ties make the cut, with 75 players at 1 under when play was suspended. Michelle Wie was part of the pack at 1 under when she rolled in a par putt on No. 18 to close a round of even-par 72.

“Days like this, you got to learn from them,” Wie said. “You got to learn from your mistakes. I am proud of myself for hanging in there. I made a lot of tough putts today, a lot of good chips as well.”