Chandni Canan BauerThe 2026 FM Championship reaches the weekend with the sort of leaderboard tournament organisers tend to enjoy rather more than the players do.
Allisen Corpuz, Hyo Joo Kim and Miyu Yamashita are tied at nine under after 36 holes at TPC Boston, each arriving there by a different method: Corpuz through control, Kim through a hot putter and Yamashita through an almost indecent appetite for birdies.
Corpuz Turns Patience Into a Bogey-Free 67
Corpuz’s Friday was the cleanest of the three. Her five-under 67 contained no bogeys, and four of her birdies came in the final six holes of the front nine, a run that turned a steady round into something considerably more useful.
The numbers behind it are persuasive. Corpuz has hit 30 of 36 greens in regulation across two days, tied for second-best in the field. That has kept the awkward questions to a minimum, which is generally a sound policy at TPC Boston.
It is only the second time in her LPGA Tour career that she has led or co-led heading into a weekend. The previous occasion came at the 2022 ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican. There is more at stake in the wider picture, too: Corpuz has qualified for the 2026 U.S. Solheim Cup team and will head to the Netherlands in less than two weeks.
“Yeah, I think this is a course that I’ve just come to and it looks good to my eye. I’ve been hitting the ball really well and putting myself in the right spots; even when I missed had a good look at a good up-and-down for par. I think this course is just one you just stay patient and you’ll get the opportunities as they come.
Yeah, me and Jay just did a good job of, yeah, staying patient. Especially the wind picked up a bit when at the started the round. So, yeah, it’s just a course that’s kind of always looked good to me and I’m really excited for the weekend.”
Kim Finds 24-Putt Efficiency
Kim’s route to 67 was less serene, although only just. She opened with back-to-back birdies at the first and second, repeated the trick at seven and eight, and made her only bogey of the first 36 holes at the par-four fifth.
The more eye-catching figure was 24 putts, the fewest in the field on Friday. That sort of efficiency can make a golf course feel several acres wider.
This is Kim’s second time this season leading or co-leading after two rounds. The first came at the Fortinet Founders Cup, which she went on to win. She is making her FM Championship debut with nine LPGA Tour victories already on the CV, including a major, and two wins in 2026.
Yamashita Keeps Producing Birdies
Yamashita followed her opening 65 with a two-under 70, a quieter card by her recent standards but hardly a retreat. Four birdies offset two bogeys, with successive gains at 16 and 17 providing a late reminder that she has spent much of this season refusing to drift very far from the conversation.
She leads the field with 14 birdies through two rounds and has required only 51 putts, also the best total in the field. Those are useful habits for a player who won the CPKC Women’s Open last week after also holding the lead going into Saturday.
The Japanese player already has two LPGA Tour wins this season, nine top-10 finishes and four career victories. More pertinently for everyone alongside her, she arrives at this weekend knowing precisely what closing out from the front feels like.
Metraux and Yin Make the Biggest Friday Move
The leaders have company close enough to be troublesome. Morgane Metraux, Ruoning Yin and Jenny Bae share fourth place, with Metraux and Yin producing the low rounds of Friday at seven-under 65.
For Metraux, it was her lowest 18-hole score since 2022 and only her fifth round in the 60s this season. She went bogey-free with five birdies and an eagle.
Yin’s 65 featured eight birdies, the most in the field on Friday, and she hit all 18 greens in regulation. It was the second time this season she has achieved that feat, making her the first player to do so multiple times in 2026. She has 13 birdies through 36 holes, one fewer than Yamashita.
Bae has taken the less theatrical route. She leads the field in greens in regulation, having missed only three, and has made just two bogeys.
Nordqvist Extends Her Final FM Championship
Anna Nordqvist also gave Friday a little extra weight. Having announced earlier in the week that she will retire from the LPGA Tour, the three-time major champion responded to an opening two-over round with a 68 to make the cut at two under.
Weiwei Zhang, meanwhile, withdrew during her second round because of injury.
For the leaders, Saturday brings a pleasantly awkward equation. Corpuz has been the most controlled from tee to green, Kim has been the sharpest with the putter on Friday, and Yamashita has made more birdies than anyone in the field. None has managed to separate from the others.
Three players, nine under, and not much room for anyone to blink.
