Soo Bin Joo, a 22-year-old from Korea, followed up her stellar first round at the ShopRite LPGA Classic with another strong performance in challenging winds Saturday.
Joo started the tournament slow, sitting at +1 thru seven holes Friday, but went -4 on three holes in the middle of her first round. She added a pair more birdies to get to a -5 66 to open the event.
Joo followed that up with a -3 68 that, because of tough conditions, was enough to give her a four-stroke lead heading into the third and final round. This included birdies on the final two holes of the day, which Joo is -5 on for the week.
Joo did much of her damage with the short game. Joo hit just eight fairways and 10 greens, but needed only 25 putts. In Friday’s first round, Joo hit 16 greens.
The young Korean is looking for her first career LPGA Tour victory, but she has had some promising moments this year, most notably in Mexico, where she had her second top-10 finish in her career so far.
While Joo has a significant lead, she does have some heavy hitters chasing her. Both Iwai twins, Somi Lee and Celine Boutier are among the players in second place at the moment. Laetitia Beck, the leader after round one, had a tough 75, but because of her strong start, is not out of it yet.
If Joo were to win this week, she would become the first player to notch their first LPGA Tour victory in 2026.
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