CALGARY, Alberta (AP) 鈥� Lauren Coughlin held onto the lead Friday in the CPKC Women鈥檚 Open, while Canadian star Brooke Henderson was derailed by closing bogeys at windy and smoky Earl Grey Golf Club.
Coughlin followed her opening 4-under 68 on Thursday in chilly and windy conditions with a 70 on Friday to get to 6 under, a stroke ahead of Hannah Green and Haeran Ryu. The temperature made it into the 70s after barely climbing into the 60s on Thursday.
鈥淚 think I handled it really well overall,鈥� Coughlin said. 鈥淚t was just really difficult to judge how far the ball was going to go with the wind and the crosswind and how firm the greens got. And they had some tough pins, especially considering the direction of the wind.鈥�
Playing through a smoky haze from wildfires, Henderson bogeyed the final four holes in her afternoon round for a 73 that left her seven strokes back at 1 over. She won the 2018 tournament.
鈥淢ost of the day I was 3 under, so feeling pretty great,鈥� Henderson said. 鈥淭o walk away 1 over, that鈥檚 not the best feeling. But all you can do is move forward and try to learn from some of the things you did out there.鈥�
Coughlin is coming off a fourth-place finish two weeks ago in France in the major Evian Champions. The 31-year-old former University of Virginia player is winless on the LPGA Tour.
On Friday, she had three front-none birdies and dropped a stroke on the par-4 11th. In two rounds, she's 7 under on the first nine holes and 1 over on the second nine.
鈥淚 putted extremely well,鈥� Coughlin said. 鈥淭wo-putted really well all day. Took advantage of the front nine, which you have to, and then kind of hold on on the back nine.鈥�
Green matched Coughlin with a 70. The Australian is a two-time winner this year, taking the HSBC Women鈥檚 World Championship in Singapore in February and the JM Eagle LA Championship in April.
鈥淚t was tough again out there,鈥� Green said. 鈥淭here was some pretty strong wind gusts, especially our last few holes, so committing to the shot you were envisioning was kind of difficult.鈥�
Ryu bogeyed the 18th for 69.
鈥淭he weather is really bad,鈥� Ryu said. 鈥淚s a little bit cold and so windy.鈥�
The 23-year-old South Korean player won the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship last year for her first LPGA Tour title. She was second last week in Ohio in the Dana Open.
Three-time champion Lydia Ko had a 71 to join second-ranked Lilia Vu (70) and Jennifer Kupcho (72) at 3 under. Ko won as an amateur in 2012 at age 15, successfully defended her title as an amateur in 2013 and won as a professional in 2015.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not easy 鈥� and I think the scores are showing,鈥� Ko said. 鈥淎nything kind of under par the past couple days is a really solid round. I鈥檓 pretty happy with the way I started this week.鈥�
Kupcho topped the leaderboard at 8 under after birdieing five of the first eight holes in her morning round, then was 5 over the rest of the way. She had a double bogey on the par-4 16th, four bogeys and a birdie on her final nine holes.
鈥淚鈥檓 pretty upset,鈥� Kupcho said. 鈥淚 think in hindsight I still hit 15 greens. Like I was hitting the ball really good. Three-putted 10 and 11 and four-putted 16. I didn鈥檛 play bad. Just had a couple shaky putts down the stretch 鈥� and that鈥檚 going to happen.鈥�
Lexi Thompson was in the group with Henderson tied for 26th at 1 over after a 73 The American plans to play a limited schedule after this season.
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