Chandni Canan BauerTwo birdies, four bogeys and a round of two over par would hardly be anyone’s preferred method of protecting a tournament lead. Yet Hye-Jin Choi emerged from the second round of the Buick LPGA Shanghai still two shots clear, with the leaderboard looking rather more bruised than the woman sitting at its summit.
At six under par through 36 holes, Choi leads Amy Yang and Grace Kim, who share second at four under. It was a day when making progress proved difficult enough, never mind putting together the sort of round that might overhaul the leader.
Only six players broke par in the second round. Just nine are under par for the tournament.
That has left Choi in a position she knows reasonably well, even if the LPGA victory she has been pursuing remains frustratingly absent from her record.
A difficult day, but Choi still has the advantage
Choi’s second round was hardly flawless. Two birdies were cancelled out by four bogeys, allowing her closest challengers to reduce the margin.
The more revealing statistic is that she remains tied for the most birdies in the field through 36 holes. Her total of 10 matches Carlota Ciganda, evidence that the attacking opportunities are still there, even if Shanghai has become increasingly reluctant to surrender them.
There was also a physical concern for Choi, who admitted afterwards that she was not feeling at her best. Nevertheless, her attention was firmly on the opportunity ahead.
“Actually, my body is not in perfect condition but I am still on the lead. I’m really looking forward on the weekend, and I’m just going think about tomorrow and Sunday that I’m just playing first and second round. I really want to make my first win.”
It is a straightforward ambition from a player whose professional record suggests she has spent rather longer waiting for that breakthrough than her consistency warrants.
Amy Yang makes the strongest move among the contenders
Of the players occupying the top eight positions, only Amy Yang managed to break par in the second round.
Her one-under-par effort featured four birdies and three bogeys, making her one of just six players in the entire field to finish the day in red figures.
More significantly, Yang is the only player to have broken par in both rounds.
That consistency has become particularly valuable as the playing conditions have grown more demanding. Rather than chasing an exceptional score, Yang has kept herself within striking distance by limiting the damage.
Her explanation was predictably uncomplicated, although putting it into practice was evidently another matter.
“You know, all I can do is just intensely focus on what I have in front of me right at the time. That’s all I can do. That’s what I’ve been practicing over the years, and, yeah, I think it worked pretty well today, yeah.”
Two strokes separate Yang from Choi heading into the weekend, a manageable margin given how few players have been able to make sustained progress.
Grace Kim finds an unconventional route to birdie
Grace Kim’s second round was an altogether different exercise in damage limitation.
Two birdies and two bogeys produced a level-par round, enough to keep her alongside Yang in second place.
Her putting statistics are particularly noteworthy. Kim has needed just 52 putts through 36 holes, tied for the third-fewest in the field.
One of her more memorable birdies, however, required no putter at all.
At the 15th, Kim holed out from a greenside bunker, producing a timely sandy birdie on a day when the course was proving awkward enough without demanding perfection around the greens.
Kim acknowledged afterwards that the increasingly firm putting surfaces and difficult pin positions had forced changes in strategy. On a couple of holes, she deliberately favoured playing towards a bunker rather than attempting to hold the green.
That is a fairly revealing assessment of the challenge. When the sand becomes the sensible option, straightforward approaches are clearly in short supply.
Choi’s unfinished business on the LPGA Tour
For Choi, this weekend presents another opportunity to convert sustained competitiveness into a first LPGA Tour victory.
The Buick LPGA Shanghai is her fourth appearance in the tournament, and her previous three visits produced finishes of tied third in 2023, tied fifth in 2024 and tied 11th in 2025.
Her wider career record is similarly consistent. She has accumulated 33 official LPGA top-10 finishes and approximately $7.2 million in career earnings, yet remains without a title on the circuit.
That absence is especially conspicuous for a player who has won 12 times on the KLPGA.
Choi has also been competitive throughout 2026, making 17 cuts in 22 starts and recording four top-10 finishes. She was runner-up at the Dow Championship alongside Hyo Joo Kim and finished tied 13th at the LOTTE Championship in her most recent appearance.
There is, however, an uncomfortable precedent.
This is the third occasion Choi has led or shared the lead after 36 holes of an LPGA tournament. The previous time came at the 2025 Maybank Championship, where she ultimately finished tied second.
It is the sort of statistic that becomes considerably more interesting when there are only two rounds left to play.
Former champions remain within reach
The immediate pursuit comes from Yang and Kim, but the leaderboard has hardly ruled out a challenge from the tournament’s recent winners.
Jeeno Thitikul and Ruoning Yin, the previous two Buick LPGA Shanghai champions, are both at two under par, four shots behind Choi.
In an event where only nine players have reached the halfway stage below par, that is a position from which either could still become involved.
The firming greens and increasingly demanding approach shots have already shown how quickly a promising round can turn into something less agreeable.
Choi has the advantage, but her second round demonstrated that holding it may require more patience than fireworks.
She has 33 LPGA top-10 finishes, 12 KLPGA victories and another genuine opportunity to claim the one achievement still missing from her LPGA record.
For the moment, six under par is the number that puts her in front. Zero LPGA victories is the number she is trying to change.
