Brooke Henderson closed birdie-birdie to card a second-day 66 and grab a share the 36-hole lead at the Marathon Classic with Caroline Hedwall at 9-under par.

The 20-year old Canadian signed for a flawless round of 13 pars and five birdies, highlighted by the two final gains to secure the co-billing alongside Hedwall, who also finished with birdies on the two closing holes en route to a 67.

“I started really strong today, 3-under through the first nine holes, and then I kind of went through a lull. I was just kind of making pars most of the back nine, but I knew I had two par-5s left on 17 and 18 and was trying to make birdie there, and fortunately I was able to hit great shots and make two birdies,” said Henderson.

“It’s just fun to be in contention again and to see your name at the top of the leaderboard, it’s exciting, and hopefully good things will happen.”

One back was overnight leader Thidapa Suwannapura who shot a 69 on Friday to sit solo-three at 8-under par 134.

Emma Talley opened with birdies on Nos. 1, 3, and 8, then added two more on 14 and 17 en route to a 67, good for T4 at 7-under par, alongside Jacqui Concolino (69) and In Gee Chun (69).

Defending champion I.K. Kim was one further back at 6-under par following a 70.

2018 MARATHON CLASSIC

TOP 10 LEADERS: ROUND 2

POS-PLAYER-SCORE (TODAY)
1. Brooke Henderson -9 (-5)
1. Caroline Hedwall -9 (-4)
3. Thidapa Suwannapura -8 (-2)
4. Emma Talley -7 (-4)
4. In Gee Chun -7 (-2)
4. Jacqui Concolino -7 (-2)
7. Celine Herbin -6 (-4)
7. Mirim Lee -6 (-1)
7. Brittany Lincicome -6 (-3)
7. Caroline Inglis -6 (-2)
7. In-Kyung Kim -6 (-1)

NOTABLES: ROUND 2

POS-PLAYER-SCORE (TODAY)
12. Mo Martin -5 (-3)
16. Lexi Thompson -4 (-3)
16. Chella Choi -4 (-1)
26. Angel Yin -3 (-3)
26. Cheyenne Woods -3 (-2)
26. Annie Park -3 (+1)
39. Marina Alex -2 (+1)
44. Sei Young Kim -1 (+1)
44. Stacy Lewis -1 (+2)
54. Charley Hull E (-2)

NOTABLES MISSING THE CUT

POS-PLAYER-SCORE (TODAY)
72. Paula Creamer +1 (+1)
99. Aditi Ashok +3 (-1)
108. Gaby Lopez +4 (-1)

HOW BROOKE HENDERSON SCORED

Driving: 266.75
Fairways: 20/28, 71.4%
Greens: 32/36, 88.8%
Par-3 Scoring: E (1 Birdie, 6 Pars, 1 Bogey)
Par-4 Scoring: -5 (5 Birdies, 17 Pars)
Par-5 Scoring: -4 (4 Birdies, 2 Pars)
Total Scoring: -9 (10 Birdies, 25 Pars, 1 Bogey)

QUOTABLE

“It was definitely a big adjustment from yesterday’s round that we played in the morning. The wind was a little bit stronger and really things were drying out very quickly, so we just tried to pay attention to the other people in our group, the releases, and Brit and I did a pretty good job of just kind of guessing our way around.”
– Brooke Henderson

This is a developing news report on the 2018 Marathon Classic. More to come.