Amanda Doherty and South Korea’s Jin Young Ko fired matching 4-under-par 66s on Friday to share the lead at the Kroger Queen City Championship in Cincinnati.
Ko went bogey-free with four birdies, including three over four holes late, while Doherty balanced five birdies against a solitary bogey to keep pace at 7-under 133 through two rounds.
Ko opened on the back nine and carded one birdie before the turn, on the par-5 14th. After seven straight pars, her game warmed up on No. 4 with a birdie, her first of two straight. She added another at the par-5 seventh hole.
A 15-time winner on the LPGA tour, Ko is seeking her first victory since 2023. Her best finish this season has been a tie for 27th at the Aramco Championship in early April.
“I got married two months ago and my husband was there last week, and after the game he told me, ‘Why (are) you so nervous before you hitting the ball?'” Ko said. “And he didn’t like say that before, like last five years, but he said that.
“And then after I heard (that) I tried to think about how did I play like the last two or three years, and I think I had some scared … play because I want to be better than better. I would say I’m perfection person. That’s why I don’t want make (a) mistake on the course.
“But after I heard that, I’m being a human so I can make mistakes on the course and (it’s) just acceptable. Just trying having fun like (when I was 10 years old).”
Doherty, on the other hand, is seeking her first career win following her debut in 2022.
“I think I’ve just been working on the right stuff and everything is kind of going the right direction,” Doherty said.
The pair overtook Ina Yoon and Chella Choi of South Korea and Japan’s Rio Takeda, all of whom had shared the lead at 4 under following the opening round on Thursday.
Choi and Takeda battled for par to remain in contention at 4 under (tied for fifth), while Yoon shot a 1-over 71 to fall into a tie for 10th with five other golfers.
England’s Lottie Woad might have had the round of the tournament with a 6-under 64. Woad collected six birdies over her first 10 holes, endured one bogey (No. 6) and finished her day with one more birdie at No. 8.
That effort left her alone in third place at 6 under.
“I think I hit maybe 15 greens today, so my bogey was a three-putt which was annoying,” Wood said. “Today I hit more fairways and just hit really good approaches.”
New Zealand’s Lydia Ko continued to show consistency on Friday, following her first-day 68 with a 3-under 67. She did make two bogeys, but she rallied with five birdies to remain in contention in fourth place at 5 under.
World No. 1 Nelly Korda and No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand are tied with Choi and Takeda at 4 under after their matching 67s. Jennifer Kupcho is right there with them at 4 under after carding a 4-under 66.
Korda is pursuing a third straight tournament win after winning the Chevron Championship and the Riviera Maya Open. Perhaps more impressive, she has failed to finish lower than second in 2026.
Tied with Yoon are Sophia Schubert (second-round 68), South Korea’s Haeran Ryu (66), England’s Jodi Ewart Shadoff (66), China’s Ruoning Yin (67) and Australia’s Cassie Porter (68).
