Nelly Korda surged into the lead at the Women's Open at St. Andrews on Friday and is three shots clear of the field in a bid to win for a seventh time in 2024.
Korda had four birdies without a bogey and is 8 under with consecutive rounds of 68.
Defending champion Lilia Vu and England's Charley Hull, the local favourite and first-round leader, are tied for second place at 5 under.
"I'm just trying to stay very present and not think about anything other than one shot at a time," said Korda, a two-time major winner who has never finished better than ninth in the Women's Open.
"And whatever golf and links golf throws at me, I'm going to take it head on."
Korda took the lead at 6 under at the turn playing the back nine first with birdies on 17 and 18 and capped her second round with a 3 on the par-4 ninth, where she nearly drove the green and putted from the fringe.
She rolled in her second for the birdie, much the same as her long putts that found the cup on 17 and 18.
HULL RUES MISSED PUTTS
Hull shot even par and Vu had a 2-under 70 on Friday.
Seeking her first career major title, Hull said she gave too many strokes back on the greens to keep pace with Korda.
"I left a lot of putts out there. I think Nelly had 30 putts and I had 36 putts," Korda said. "So that's six putts that I've lost to her on the greens."
Winner of the Chevron Championship, Korda can add another major title and run her victory total this season to seven by closing out the action in Scotland.
More grueling weather conditions are in the forecast.
"Only three shots behind – that's nothing going into the weekend, especially on this golf course," Hull said.
China's Ruoning Yin shook off two bogeys with a birdie at 14 to join the first page of the leaderboard at 4 under with four holes to play.
Olympic gold medalist Lydia Ko reached the clubhouse at 3 under as part of a logjam five strokes behind Korda that also includes Ashleigh Buhai and Casandra Alexander of South Africa and Japan's Mao Saigo.
Top-ranked amateur Lottie Woad was 3 under for the tournament at the turn and gave one back, missing a short par putt on No 12, her first bogey of the day.
The 20-year-old England native attends Florida State and is making her Women's Open debut and playing in her fourth major, tracking to easily make the cut for the first time since the 2023 Chevron Championship.
Ana Pelaez Trivino of Spain was disqualified Friday because her caddie used distance-measuring technology, banned by the event, on two holes – the 10th and 18th.
The LPGA rookie was trying to make the cut in a major for the first time this season with scores of 72-74 in the first two rounds.