Joo Soo-bin Jumps to Tied for 2nd in LPGA CPKC Women's Open 2nd Round... 5 Strokes Behind Leader Yamashita

Joo Soo-bin leaped to a tie for second place after shooting a 7-under-par round in the second round of the LPGA Tour CPKC Women's Open (total purse of $7.5 million).

Playing in the second round of the tournament held on the 22nd (Korea Standard Time) at the Royal Mayfair Golf Club (par 70) in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Joo carded seven birdies and no bogeys for a 7-under 63, bringing her tournament total to 9-under 131 and climbing to second place.

While the gap with leader Miyu Yamashita of Japan (14-under 126) is not small, it is a deficit that can certainly be bridged in the remaining rounds.

Joo, who debuted on the LPGA Tour in 2023, has yet to capture her first victory.

Last year, she had to go through the Qualifying Series, where she finished as the sole runner-up to retain her tour card for this season.

She has posted two top-10 finishes in the 2026 season, with her best performance being a tie for fourth place at the ShopRite LPGA Classic in June.

At that time, Joo held the sole lead by four strokes heading into the final round, but shot a 2-over par on the final day, narrowly missing out on her maiden win.

On this day, Joo began cutting down strokes with fierce momentum early in the round.

She reeled off three consecutive birdies from the 2nd hole (par 3) to the 4th hole (par 4) and added another birdie on the 6th hole (par 4).

Having finished the front nine at 4-under, Joo picked up a birdie on the first hole of the back nine, the 10th hole (par 4).

She then recorded back-to-back birdies on the 15th hole (par 4) and the 16th hole (par 4).

Lee So-mi shot a 5-under 65 on the day to move to a tournament total of 6-under 134, tying for 12th place.

Kim Sei-young shaved two strokes off to finish at 4-under 136 in a tie for 21st, while rookie Lee Dong-eun stood at 3-under 137 in a tie for 29th.

An Na-rin tied for 37th at 2-under 138; Choi Hye-jin, 이미향 (Lee Mi-hyang), and Yang Hee-young tied for 45th at 1-under 139; and Kim Hyo-joo, Shin Ji-eun, and Park Geum-kang tied for 56th at even-par 140.

Yuri Yoshida (Japan) and Chiara Romero (USA) joined Joo in the group tied for second at 9-under 131.

Nasa Hataoka (Japan) and Ruoning Yin (China) shared fifth place at 8-under 132.

World No. 1 Nelly Korda (USA) struggled to an even-par 70 on the day, slipping to 29th place at 3-under 137 for the tournament.

Defending champion Brooke Henderson (Canada) was tied for 18th at 5-under 135.

New Zealand-based Korean star Lydia Ko, a three-time winner of this tournament, avoided missing the cut by tying for 45th at 1-under 139.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.