England’s Georgia Hall grabbed a three-stroke lead at the Cambia Portland Classic with a bogey-free, 9-under-par 63 second round Friday at Columbia-Edgewater Country Club in Portland, Ore.
Australian Minjee Lee (second-round 68) is in sole possession of second at 12 under, followed by first-round leader Marina Alex (71) and Megan Khang (65) tied for third at 11 under.
Australian Su Oh (69) and Canadian Brooke Henderson (71) are knotted in fifth at 9 under.
Hall’s 15-under 129 through two rounds is a new tournament record. She began the day tied for fifth after shooting 66 on Thursday.
Hall had a streak of five straight birdies from Nos. 12-16 on the back nine. Her front nine included a three-birdie run from Nos. 5-7.
“My long game was pretty good today, and I didn’t really miss a green that much,” Hall told reporters after her round. “I’m extremely happy, and I kind of stayed in there and kept trying to get more birdies, so I was happy with that.
“I just thought I just want to keep going. I want to get as far ahead of the others as I can. That’s what I kept thinking. I just want to like increase the distance apart.”
Lee carded three birdies each on the front and back nine. She bogeyed two par-4s: Nos. 3 and 14.
“I don’t think anything really stands out to me today,” she said. “I think I just scrambled when I had to and just took advantage of the shots that I hit close. Yeah, just -- it was all around OK today.”
Alex, who tied the 18-hole tournament scoring record with her career-low, 10-under 62 on Thursday, had only three birdies Friday. She had been tied with Lee until a bogey on No. 9 ended her day.
“The tour is so competitive, and every week girls are shooting 6, 7 under pretty regularly,” said Alex. “If you don’t keep up that pace, you’re going to get left behind. I still have a really good chance on the weekend.”
Alex is working with reigning champion Stacy Lewis’ longtime caddie Travis Wilson this weekend. Lewis is not part of the field as she’s due to give birth to her first child in November.
Henderson, who won the event in 2015 and ‘16 and holds the tournament scoring record of 21-under-par 267 (’15), couldn’t replicate the 64 she carded on Thursday. She had four birdies and three bogeys on the day.
“Yeah, I kind of got off to a shaky start, two bogeys right back-to-back on the back nine, which was my front nine, and I just kind of fought the rest of the day to kind of get it under par. So I’m happy with 1 under,” Henderson said.
Khang had an eagle on the par-5 fifth hole as part of her bogey-free performance. Oh, meanwhile, carded five birdies in a seven-hole stretch during the back nine of her round, though she had her third bogey of the day on No. 9 to finish.
“Everything was OK,” Oh said. “I sort of found something in my swing in the back nine, so that really helped, and I was hitting the ball a bit better. You know, I played quite well. The last hole was a bit of a bummer, and I hit probably the wrong club, but I didn’t really hit any bad shots.”
A group of four players is tied for seventh at 8 under while three more are another stroke back in 11th.
No. 3 So Yeon Ryu of South Korea, the highest-ranked player in the field, is part of a cluster of nine players tied for 17th at 5 under, along with former No. 1 and compatriot Inbee Park.
Ryu followed a 71 on Thursday with a 68, totaling six birdies in her round.
The cut line settled at even par.