Lauren Coughlin showed the best mastery of blustery conditions at Shadow Creek as she opened up a five-shot lead at the Aramco Championship.
Wind gusts of 20mph and higher made for a difficult round, but Coughlin shot a three-under 69 to top the leaderboard at eight under-par after starting the day in a three-way tie for the lead.
Hyo Joo Kim kept alive her hopes for a third straight LPGA Tour tournament victory, shooting 73 to sit in joint-second place. The Republic of Ireland's Leona Maguire sits alongside her, with both players three under par for the tournament.
The top 20 players in the world signed up for the Aramco Championship, no doubt attracted to the $4m purse in the first year that this tournament is strictly stroke play. This event is co-sanctioned with the Ladies European Tour.
A day after 26 players posted red numbers, that total was 11 on Friday as the wind made the picturesque but demanding course in Las Vegas even more difficult.
But Couglin, who nearly won here last year when it was a match-play event, has now created clear separation. However, even with a sizeable lead, she is not ready to celebrate.
"There is a lot of golf to be played," Coughlin said. "As you can see, you can make big numbers really easily. So just try to stick to what I've been doing the last two days and see what happens."
"It's almost bordering on a US Open-style setup," Maguire said. "You see how few people are under par. It feels a little bit like a major without being a major."
Miyu Yamashita got to experience that full effect. Sitting at five under with two holes to play, she went in the water on the par-three 17th and then took three shots to get on the green. The triple bogey left her two under alongside world No 2 Nelly Korda (74) and Nanna Koerstz Madsen (70).
Korda, who won this event two years ago, struggled over the final nine in the second round. She bogeyed two holes and had a double on the par-four first.
Coughlin holed a 50-footer for one of her five birdies on the eighth hole. She also birdied seven, 10 and 12, but she bogeyed the par-four 14th and 15th to halt her momentum and bring her back to the field.
Coughlin then rolled in a 25-foot putt on the par-five 16th for a timely birdie.
"Definitely helped smooth things out there towards the end," Coughlin said. "Felt like I was playing good, especially those two holes before that.
"The easiest way to describe this golf course, especially when it gets windy, it's so easy to make bogey. One little thing and you're making bogey. Maybe even worse."
Amelia Garvey made the largest move up the leaderboard, answering an opening 79 with a 69 – that was despite a triple bogey on the par-three 17th. That moved the New Zealander to four over, enough to make the cut of seven-over par.
"I actually played really well yesterday," Garvey said. "I just couldn't putt."
Watch the third round of the Aramco Championship from 10pm on Saturday on Your Site Golf and Your Site Main Event. or .
