While the Fourth of July is still a week away in the United States, there were plenty of fireworks in the second round of the Dow Championship. Five teams sky-rocketed to the top of the leaderboard after the second round of play and the first round of four-ball action. Teams Sloth Machine (Jaravee Boonchant and Chanettee Wannasaen) and Ping-Pals (Jennifer Kupcho and Ally Ewing) once again find themselves atop the leaderboard but are now joined by Team 2K (Auston Kim and Grace Kim), Team Hot Pot (Ssu-Chia Cheng and Wei-Ling Hsu and Team Hygge (Nanna Koerstz Madsen and Nicole Broch Estrup) at 12-under.
Switching formats to four-ball, Team 2K took advantage of the low-scoring opportunities that Midland Country Club presents, going six strokes lower than their 3-under 67 foursomes score to jump into a tie for first. The highlight of the round for the pair came when Aussie Grace Kim carded her first career ace on No. 7 from 145 yards with her 7-iron. The two added eight additional birdies and made just one bogey, propelling them from T9 to T1.
“I can't remember the yardage, but I hit a three-quarter 7-iron,” Kim said about her ace. “Wind was off the left, so I was like, 8 is not going to get there. I was just trying to put it close. All I see is it disappear. I've had a lot of close shaves, and this is actually my first one. So very exciting. Everyone was really happy for me, so it was very nice to share that moment.”
Team Hot Pot finished yesterday’s foursomes round in a tie for fourth but left no doubt they belong at the top of the leaderboard after recording a bogey-free four-ball round with an eagle and five birdies. Cheng and Hsu, who hail from Chinese Taipei, have made just one bogey in two rounds and are poised to keep their momentum rolling into the weekend at the Dow Championship.
Team Hygge turned in the second-lowest round of the day with a 10-under, 60 performance. The Danish duo recorded nine birdies and an eagle on the par-5 3rd hole, making just one bogey on No. 7. The two jumped from T16 to T1 ahead of the weekend in Midland, Mich. Both players are having some firsts at the Dow Championship, as Koerstz Madsen is making her first career start in the event and Broch Estrup is making her first start of the 2024 LPGA Tour season.
Teams Sloth Machine and Team Ping-Pals are once again tied at the top, as well. The two Thailand natives, Boonchant and Wannasaen, went bogey-free with six birdies, two pairs of which were back-to-back on holes 11 and 12, as well as 15 and 16. The Americans Ewing and Kupcho also went bogey-free with six birdies as well. Every winner of the Dow Championship has either been American or Thai.
Along with Kim’s ace, Japan’s Hinako Shibuno recorded her second career hole-in-one on the par-3 18th hole from 143 yards out with her 8-iron. It is her first hole-in-one since the second round of the 2022 BMW Ladies Championship. Team BS (Celine Boutier and Yuka Saso) also made headlines after tying the 18-hole four-ball tournament scoring record, turning in a 58. It ties the record set by Jin Young Ko and Minjee Lee in 2019 and is the seventh round in the 50s since the tournament began.
“I think we both had opportunities, birdie chances on each hole, and so we knew we could both be aggressive with our putts because we knew the other one also had a chance,” Boutier said about what was clicking. “In that way, we really helped each other out, and she also helped me a lot on the reads, so I definitely felt more confident with the lines and stuff like that, so that helps, also.”
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