Defending champion Lexi Thompson tied for Meijer LPGA lead

Birdies on the par-five eighth, par-three 12th, par-four 15th and par-four 17th left her sitting at four-under, two shots behind the leaders.

Despite battling back issues throughout her second round, defending champion Lexi Thompson was able to fire a 4-under, 67, and will take a one shot lead into the weekend at 10-under-par at the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give.

Ko, who lost to Henderson in a playoff at the Women’s PGA to be denied a third straight major title, was happy to be two shots off the pace on what she described as a tough opening day. “I don’t have to rely on coaches and that sort of thing”. “I was pretty consistent and I just got to keep playing like this”.

“Everything is kind of clicking into place and I’m really looking forward to this summer”, Henderson said. The 18-year-old Canadian, up to No. 2 in the world, has 10 top-10 finishes this season. She is the highest ranked American player in the Rolex Rankings where she is ranked in fourth. “I just tried not to focus on it and I just tried to stick to what I did yesterday”.

“In the beginning I was getting a little frustrated, I didn’t hit it close to the pin, but then I think through six holes I started getting it right around the pin and had some birdies that fell”, Sharp said.

“I’ve been playing well recently, but I haven’t been holing any putts”, said Davies, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Britain’s Laura Davies, a four-time major champion who hasn’t won an LPGA event since 2001, fired a six-under-par 65 Thursday to share the lead at the Meijier LPGA Classic. So I think that’s why you can see a lot of birdies out there and I think that’s why a lot of players playing really well. “I’m going to put a good stroke on it, ‘” Reto said.

“It’s open enough but you’ve still got to hit fairways because these trees are pretty big and if you get behind them – I tried to chip out once, luckily got up-and-down for a par”. The Golf Australia rookie squad member is now ranked 13th, having won twice on the main tour, and she is tied-13th in MI.