Japan’s Haru Nomura posted a steady 2-under par 70 on Friday and moved to the lead at 9-under 135 at the 2016 Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.

Minjee Lee of Australia registered a low-round 65 to surge into a share of second place with Korean Na Yeon Choi and So Yeon Ryu. Choi coped with back pain to card a second-round 70 and Ryu, the overnight leader who just broke the course record with a Thursday 63, shot a 3-over 75. The group of three is at 138 and three strokes off Nomura.

World number one in the Rolex Rankings Lydia Ko sits another shot back at 139 following a Friday 71. Ko had a few patchy moments on the back and dropped from a share of the lead to join American Gerina Piller, Brittany Lang and French woman Karine Icher in a four-way tie for fifth.

With the bugging weather conditions on Friday at the Lake Merced Golf Club, the cut line fell at 4-over par 148 and 81 players prevailed.

The following six Taiwanese players have made the cut, Candie Kung (龔怡萍), Hsu Wei-Lin (徐薇凌), Lee Min (李旻), Lin Tzu-Chi (林子麒), Cheng Ssu-Chia (程思嘉), and Chang Ya Chun (張雅淳). The Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic is an LPGA and TLPGA co-sanctioned tournament. In the inception year, the number was seven and in 2015, the number of Taiwanese golfers still around for the weekend fell to five.

Ko came up strongly with three birdies on the first four holes but struggled closing out, making two bogeys on her last four holes. Lee, winner of last week’s LOTTE Championship, remained impressively focused and precise during the windy and rainy day two, shooting sixteen greens in regulation and needing just 26 putts in the bogey-free 65. She had seven birdies.

Kung also teed up in the morning wave, finding it difficult to get a groove with low temperature, gusts, sudden downpours and continual drizzles all coming their way. “It was just brutal. I was only hoping to place the ball on the fairways and just to get it on the greens, but even when you are on the green, it is soaked that the speed is so much slower than yesterday,” said Kung. “The wind was a bad factor as well. I was kind of missing the feel on my putter.” Kung needed 34 putts, resulting in five bogeys and one double-bogey. She made only 11 of 18 greens in regulations.

Even one birdie was a luxury for Kung on Friday. “I got up early. It was cold and it felt like a really long day. I just want to go back a take a hot bath. Hopefully tomorrow the weather will be kinder to us.” Despite an 8-over Friday, Kung is still setting the high standard for her fellow TLPGA members at a two-round total of even-par 144.

One special man was in the crowd cheering for Kung. Yang, president of the KENDA Tires USA, long-time sponsor of Kung’s, followed Kung through her eighteen holes. “KENDA has been supporting Candie since 2009. It’s been a great inspiration seeing her fight her way back into the 30s in the rankings.” Kung was almost falling out of the top 100 battling injuries and motivation.

Hsu carded a 75 and moved to even-par as well. Teeing up in the afternoon, although the rain had let up, Hsu had to contend with continuous wind and her inconsistent wedge play. “To be honest, I was not happy with myself today,” said Hsu. “I didn’t feel great with my irons. And there were shots like on the fifteenth. It was a little bad luck and I didn’t have enough patience.”

Hsu teed it short in front of the green of the par-3 15th. She nailed the next chip to land the ball within just one foot but three-putted from there. “I was on a steep downslope with a hidden big twist. I did not expect it.” Aside from the double-bogey, she made two birdies and three bogeys.

Amateur talent Chang used two birdies and bogeys each to stay at 1-under through fourteen, but bogeyed 15th to 17th and double-bogeyed the last hole, dropping to 4-over in just four holes.

She shanked her second shot into the player tunnel back of the green on the 18th and returned to the clubhouse red-faced. But it turned out the cut line was set back to 4-over and Chang just narrowly squeezed in, regaining her smile saying she will not make the same mistake on the weekend.

Former world number one Yani Tseng (曾雅妮) failed to make the cut for the third straight time with a 13-over 157, after a disastrous second-round 80. “There was some tough luck, such as those tee shots ended up in old divots, or the bunker shots that were so covered in the sand,” said Tseng. “But this is golf. I was thinking to stop for a while but my team encouraged me to go on to next week in Texas. I will try to hang in there and not to give up hopes.”

The US$2 million LPGA tournament provides a first-place prize of US$300,000. Saturday’s third-round play will begin at 7:18 in the morning.