Three Different Games Share the FM Championship Lead

Kim’s 67 matched Corpuz’s Friday score, though her card required more repair work. She hit 12 greens, two fewer than Corpuz, and needed only 24 putts, the fewest in the field during the second round.

Kim made back-to-back birdies at Nos. 1 and 2 and again at Nos. 7 and 8. Her only bogey through 36 holes came at the par-4 fourth, ending a run of 30 consecutive holes without one. She also birdied Nos. 13 and 18.

Twenty-four putts can make a round look easier than it was. Kim said many were for par rather than the birdie opportunities she would have preferred. Through two rounds, she has hit 25 greens and taken 52 putts. Yamashita is the only player in the field with fewer.

“There are many situations, even yesterday, I could have bogeyed, but I think there were just a lot of saves,” Kim said through translation.

Kim’s 52 putts do not mean she has spent two days looking at short birdie putts. She has missed 11 greens through two rounds and made only one bogey in all. That is the work hidden inside the putting total.

Kim has already converted a share of a 36-hole lead into a victory this season. She led after two rounds of the Fortinet Founders Cup and won, then won again the following week at the Ford Championship. She has nine LPGA Tour victories, but the view from the top still felt fresh Friday.

“It’s been a while since my name has been on the leaderboard,” Kim said.

Yamashita Answers With Two Late Birdies

Yamashita began Friday one shot off the lead after an opening 65. Her second round never gathered the same pace. She made bogeys at Nos. 1 and 8, hit only 11 greens and turned in 70.

She recovered late. Birdies at Nos. 16 and 17 moved Yamashita alongside Corpuz and Kim, earning a share of the lead one week after she won the CPKC Women’s Open.

Yamashita has needed 51 putts through 36 holes, the fewest in the field, and she has not made a three-putt. Her 14 birdies are two more than Corpuz and four more than Kim. Even in a 70, those two late chances kept Thursday’s work intact.

A week ago, Yamashita held the lead going into Saturday at the CPKC Women’s Open and turned it into her fourth LPGA Tour victory in two years.

Two 65s Tighten the Weekend

Morgane Metraux and Ruoning Yin matched the low round of the day with 65s and joined Jenny Bae at 8 under. Yin hit all 18 greens Friday, while Bae has missed only three greens through two rounds.

Sei Young Kim showed how quickly the board can move in either direction. She followed Thursday’s 64 with a 74 and fell into a tie for ninth at 6 under. The cut came at even par, leaving 67 players for the weekend.

Metraux and Yin began Friday six shots behind Yamashita and ended it one back. That is the clearest warning on the board. At TPC Boston, a quiet stretch can be expensive even when nothing appears terribly wrong.

PGA of America Golf Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer who serves as Athlon Sports Senior Golf Writer. Read his recent “The Starter” on R.org, where he is their Lead Golf Writer. To stay updated on all of his latest work, sign up for his newsletter or visit his MuckRack Profile.