Hinako Shibuno leads at the midway point of the 2020 US Women’s Open

Hinako Shibuno (Google Images)

Hinako Shibuno of Okayama, Japan is the leader after 36 holes of the 2020 United States Women’s Open from Houston, Texas. After the second round, Shibuno had a score of seven-under-par after shooting a Friday score of four-under-par 67.

Shibuno leads Linn Grant of Sweden by three strokes. The Swedish amateur and Arizona State University product who is only 21 years of age, is the only other player in striking distance of Shibuno at the moment, as Grant is at -4.

On Friday, Shibuno had six birdies and two bogeys. She birdied the first, sixth, 10th, 12th, 15th, and 17th holes, and bogeyed the eighth and 16th holes. After round one, Shibuno was in second place after shooting a three-under-par 68. The first round leader, Amy Olson of the United States, was one over par on Friday and has dropped to -3, where she is tied with fellow Americans Kaitlyn Papp and Megan Khang. Like Grant, Papp is an amateur.

Four other amateurs made the cut. Sweden’s Ingrid Lindblad is at -1, Sweden’s Maja Stark, and France’s Pauline Roussin-Bouchard are each at even par, while Gabriela Ruffels of Australia is +1.

Shibuno, who is only 22 years of age, and is a professional, is looking for her second grand slam title. She previously won the 2019 Women’s British Open at Milton Keynes. There, she beat American Lizette Salas by a stroke. Shibuno shot a four-round score of -18. That was tied for the second best score ever by a player in winning the Women’s British Open since it became a major in 2001. The record belongs to Karen Stupples who shot a four-round score of -19 to beat Rachel Hetherington of Australia at the 2004 Women’s British Open in Berkshire.

Meanwhile, Jing Yan of China missed the cut on Friday due to a bizarre circumstance. On Thursday, Yan arrived to the first tee late and was given a two-stroke penalty. The two strokes caused her to finish at +5. The cutline was at +3.

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