<\/p>\n
Alison Lee hits off the 11th tee during the second round of the U.S. Women’s Open golf tournament Friday, June 5, 2026, in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
Jessie Alcheh\/AP Photo\/Jessie Alcheh<\/p>\n
Ruoning Yin, of China, talks with her caddie on the sixth hole during the second round of the U.S. Women’s Open golf tournament Friday, June 5, 2026, in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
Ashley Landis\/AP Photo\/Ashley Landis<\/p>\n
Nelly Korda hits off the 13th tee during the second round of the U.S. Women’s Open golf tournament Friday, June 5, 2026, in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
Jessie Alcheh\/AP Photo\/Jessie Alcheh<\/p>\n
Hyunjo Yoo, of South Korea, walks on the third hole during the second round of the U.S. Women’s Open golf tournament Friday, June 5, 2026, in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
Ashley Landis\/AP Photo\/Ashley Landis<\/p>\n
Sei Young Kim, of South Korea, hits of the 13th tee during the second round of the U.S. Women’s Open golf tournament Friday, June 5, 2026, in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
Jessie Alcheh\/AP Photo\/Jessie Alcheh<\/p>\n
LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 Alison Lee seized a share of the lead at the 81st U.S. Women’s Open on Friday with a second-round 68 in her native Los Angeles area, joining Ruoning Yin at 4-under 138 atop a crowded leaderboard at Riviera.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
World No. 1 Nelly Korda jumped into the hunt for her first Women\u2019s Open title by shooting the day\u2019s lowest round at 67, leaving her just two shots back after struggling Thursday.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Opening-round leader Jennifer Kupcho, Sei Young Kim and Mexico’s Gaby Lopez were in a group of six at 3-under 139, while Korda and three others were at 140.<\/p>\n
The venerable course at this 100-year-old country club is hosting its first U.S. Women\u2019s Open, and it remained unforgiving for the world\u2019s best. Only two players managed a bogey-free round Friday \u2014 including China’s Yin, who semi-jokingly called Riviera \u201cpassive aggressive” despite being the only player in the field to shoot two sub-70 rounds so far.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love it,\u201d Yin said. \u201cI always say that the more difficult (the course), the better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yin carded her second straight 69 in the same city where she earned her first LPGA Tour victory in 2023, a couple of months before she won the Women\u2019s PGA Championship. She tied for fourth at last year’s U.S. Open at Erin Hills.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Lee played under par for the second straight day at Riviera, highlighted by back-to-back birdies just before the turn. The new mother\u2019s first two rounds are an extension of a strong start to the season that includes a third-place finish at the Mizuho Americas Open four weeks ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo win in basically my backyard, where I grew up, would be super cool,\u201d Lee said. I don\u2019t want to get ahead of myself … but if you\u2019d told me I would be in this spot at the beginning of the week, I probably would have started crying.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 31-year-old Lee grew up in suburban Valencia and had a stellar junior career before playing at UCLA and embarking on her pro career. She is a two-time Solheim Cup participant, but she has yet to win on the LPGA Tour while managing just two top-10 finishes at 44 majors.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m not going to lie, it\u2019s been very tough,\u201d Lee said. \u201cI\u2019ve gone through a few stages, a few slumps, if you want to call it, in my career, even since I was like 15 years old. … no matter what I did, no matter how much I practiced, it just wasn\u2019t going my way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Lee then took most of last year off for the birth of her son, Levi. While she says her sleep rhythms are regularly interrupted by her 13-month-old these days, her parents and extended family in Valencia have relieved some of the burden during the Open.<\/p>\n
Levi was in attendance for Friday’s round, but Lee’s partner only brought him out to watch the 18th hole because the youngster has a tendency to get excited: He yelled \u201cBall!\u201d during his mom’s backswing at The Chevron Championship earlier this year.<\/p>\n
With family around her, Lee is finally having the moment she had long anticipated.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I\u2019ve definitely underachieved what I could have done out here on tour,\u201d Lee said. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely been really frustrating. I\u2019m at a point now where I\u2019ve truly accepted it, but like I said, that\u2019s part of why I want to come back and play. I feel like I was so close so many times.\u201d<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Kim was one shot behind Kupcho after the opening round, and she was thrust into the lead early in the second despite shooting 1 over on the front nine. She bogeyed the 18th to drop her share of the lead in one of the day’s final groups.<\/p>\n
Kupcho scuffled to a second-round 73 after carding the only 66 of the tournament so far on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n