Im ahead in Vegas, Ko impresses on LPGA Tour

Sungjae Im moved into a share of the halfway lead on the PGA Tour, as compatriot Jin Young Ko continued to impress on the LPGA Tour.

Im followed an opening-round 63 with a six-under 65 on Friday at the Shriners Children’s Open to move to 14 under in Las Vegas and enjoy Chad Ramey at the top of the leaderboard.

The South Korean, beginning on the back nine, birdied three of his opening five holes and added successive gains from the first, before closing out his blemish-free card by getting up and down from a greenside bunker to pick up another shot at the par-five ninth.

Sam Burns, chasing back-to-back PGA Tour titles, is a shot off the pace alongside Adam Schenk after a bogey-free 63, while Aaron Wise is fifth on 12 under following a round-of-the-day 62.

England’s Harry Hall is three off the pace and former major champion Louis Oosthuizen heads into the weekend four behind, as overnight leader Sung Kang signed for a 73 to drop into the group on eight under that also includes Francesco Molinari, Viktor Hovland and Ireland’s Seamus Power.

Ryder Cup duo Ian Poulter and Paul Casey were among the high-profile names who missed the cut at TPC Summerlin, with Webb Simpson, Rickie Fowler, Scottie Scheffler and Patrick Reed all also making an early exit.

At the Cognizant Founders Cup, defending champion Ko extended her lead to three shots during a weather-disrupted second day in West Caldwell, New Jersey.

The world No 2 was two under for her round and 10 under for the tournament when play was suspended due to darkness, with Ko having four holes to complete when the second round resumes on Saturday morning.

The 26-year-old made three birdies in a four-hole stretch around the turn to pull clear of a three-way tie for second, with Lindsey Weaver posting a five-under 67 and So Yeon Ryu and Perrine Delacour having four and seven holes to play respectively.

Ko, who finished runner-up at the Shoprite LPGA Classic last week, needs to play her last four holes in level-par to make it 12 consecutive rounds in the 60s and move within two of the record Annika Sorenstam set in 2005.

In Gee Chun was four behind with six holes remaining, with Xiyu Lin, Chella Choi and Jenny Shin all also on six under after back-to-back rounds of 68s. World No 1 Nelly Korda is on five under with three holes of her second round to complete.

Play was delayed at the start because of fog for the second straight day at Donald Ross-designed Mountain Ridge, with 63 of the 132 players unable to finish. Georgia Hall heads the British interest in the field and sits in the group on two under with five holes to complete.

Watch the Shriner Children’s Open and Cognizant Founders Cup this weekend live on Sky Sports Golf!