SOUTH Korean Ru So Yeon was the coolest chick at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club yesterday as she did not wilt under the burning sun to wrest the Sime Darby LPGA lead by two strokes with a six-under 65 for an 11-under 131 total.
She was hot on the heels of overnight leader Stacy Lewis of the United States afrer the opening round, but traded her five-under for a six-under second round score to stand alone at the top of the leader-board.
Stacy, however, found the going tough yesterday as she could only post a par-71 in the second round to drop tied-11th on a 136 total.
Japanese Ayako Uehara was the surprise package of the day as she shot the lowest round of eight-under 63 for an nine-under 133 total to jump up the ranks to be tied second with Korean Ji Eun-Hee, Lydia Ko (Aust) and Jodi Ewart (Eng). The foresome are just two strokes adrift of the leader.
South Korean golfers have won six of the past seven LPGA tournaments, and the Malaysian title also looks like it is going their way.
The leader birdied five of her first seven holes: "It is really hot today, and I did well on the front, but on the return, my energy level was so low and this affected my game.
"But still, 66 and 65 is good score under my belt. You know, coming to Malaysia I always expect really hot weather, but Monday through Wednesday it wasn't really hot.
"So, I thought, Oh, maybe it's going to be cold. Well, you know, since yesterday heat is coming up and my body the conditions changed drastically on Thursday and Friday," said Ru.
However, the kept her cool when Korean and Malaysian fans fanned her with encouragements.
"The good thing about this is that many Malaysian and Korean fans came out to cheer me and it was a really big boost for my energy."
And from a control freak, she is now a much sane player after a few visits to her psychiatrist.
"After a few meetings with my psychiatrist I found out my problem is that I want to control everything on the golf course. I'm human being. I cannot control everything.
"I try to do and choose what I can do on the golf and not try to fight what I cant control. These days that makes me enjoy my game more," said Ru.
Ayako Uehara had an amazing 63, but her English was not as amazing: "I had many birdy chances in the first round but did not make them. Today (yesterday) it was better and I am up there now. Also I like this Tour, as I can visit many countries and I like it."
Simply amazing display from Ayako as she had a flawless game of eight birdies and made golf look so easy.
