Alena Sharp of Canada 1 shot off lead at Meijer LPGA Classic
Brooke Henderson, fresh of her LPGA Championship, in the hunt at 7 under
Canada's Alena Sharp bogeyed her final hole to fall out of a tie for first after two rounds of the Meijer LPGA Classic in Belmont, Mich.
Sharp shot a 4-under 67 to sit at 9-under, one back of leader Lexi Thompson and tied with Gee Chun, So Yeon Ryu and Q Baek.
"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," said the Hamilton native. "Really played steady all day. Struck it better today than yesterday."
The 35-year-old Sharp is winless on the LPGA Tour, with six top-10 finishes in 11 seasons.
"I'm going to just keep playing my game, hit fairways and go at pins when I can," Sharp said. "My putting has been really good the last two tournaments, so I'm kind of relying on it."
Thompson, the defending champion, had to fight back pain all day in shooting 67.
"It just came on last weekend and it was really bad today," Thompson said. "I'm not really one to complain about pain because I just fight through it, but yeah, it's hurting. I'm going to go and get a rubdown and see if it goes away."
Top-ranked Lydia Ko and No. 2 Brooke Henderson, coming off a playoff victory over Ko in the KPMG Women's PGA, were together at 7-under after matching rounds of 68.
Henderson played her final nine holes in 4-under. The 18-year-old Canadian, up to No. 2 in the world, has 10 top-10 finishes this season. She also won last year in Portland, Oregon.
"It was much warmer out today, a beautiful day," Henderson said. "I started out not as well as I would have liked, 1 over for the front nine, but I made a lot of birdies on the back and go 4-under, so overall it was a pretty steady day. I know I have some work to do on the weekend, but I'm looking forward to it."