NEW YORK (AFP) — Defending champion Nelly Korda birdied three of her last five holes, thriving in rain while rivals struggled, to share the lead after Friday’s second round of the LPGA Mizuho Americas Open.

Top-ranked Korda, who won seven times last year but seeks her first title of 2025, fired a four-under par 68 to stand alongside South Korean Lee So-mi and American Andrea Lee on eight-under 136 after 36 holes at Liberty National in New Jersey.

“Just have to really dial into everything that you’re doing in these conditions with it kind of being on and off rain and getting colder and some wind,” Korda said.

“We did a really good job with that.”

World No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand was in a second-place pack on 137 that also included France’s Celine Boutier, Australian Stephanie Kyriacou, Spain’s Carlota Ciganda and Julia Lopez Ramirez and American Jenny Bae.

“It was tough but I was expecting it to be a lot tougher,” Boutier said.

“When it came down it came down pretty hard, so that was a bit tough. I think the toughest part was how cold it got at the end. Hands were getting pretty stiff and cold.”

Korda, whose 2024 trophy haul included her second major at the Chevron Championship, began on the back nine and birdied the par-three 11th and 14th holes, but closed the side with back-to-back bogeys.

The 26-year-old American answered with a birdie at the first and then birdied the fifth and par-five sixth and eighth holes to join the leaders.

“The birdie on number one after bogeying my last two holes was a nice momentum shift,” Korda said.

“After making two bogeys in a row you have to reset and just know you have nine more holes to go and there are some opportunities out there even with the tricky conditions. So, just had a little bit of a mental reset and it worked.”

Lee So-mi, a five-time Korean LPGA winner seeking her first LPGA title, started on the back nine and birdied five of her first eight holes.

She added birdies at the par-three second and par-five sixth to lead alone at 10-under only to stumble back with bogeys at seven and eight.

Andrea Lee, whose only LPGA victory came in the 2022 Portland Classic, fired a bogey-free 68 to share the lead on eight-under 136.

“I was mentally preparing for the worst. The radar didn’t look great for the rain and it was dumping on us pretty hard for probably about 12, 13 holes honestly,” the 26-year-old American said.