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| - US teen rookie Yealimi Noh fired a five-under par 66 to grab a share of the lead with Jessica Korda and Anna Nordqvist after Friday's second round of the LPGA Volunteers of America Championship. The 19-year-old fired her second-best round of the year to stand on four-under 138 alongside compatriot Korda, who fired a second straight 69, and Sweden's Nordqvist, who shot 68 at The Colony in suburban Dallas. Noh, who started with a birdie on the back nine followed by her lone bogey at the par-3 11th, reeled off four birdies in a row starting at the par-5 17th and added another at the par-3 seventh to finish among the leaders. "I feel really good about how I'm hitting it," Noh said. "I hit a lot of greens today. I hit a lot close and made the putts so that was nice." Noh's best LPGA finish was a runner-up effort at last year's Portland Classic. "Just having this round under my belt make me feel really nice," Noh said. "It gives me a lot more confidence going into the weekend." Korda sandwiched birdies at the par-5 second and sixth holes around a bogey at the fourth and sank back-to-back birdies at the ninth and 10th before taking a bogey at the par-5 13th. "It was tough," Korda said. "Front-nine pins were gettable. Back nine pins it was defense all day. "I'm happy with my ball striking. I don't know what else I could have done, I really don't. I just have to stick it out." Nordqvist opened with a birdie, added another on the eighth and began the back nine with a birdie as well. She also birdied the par-4 12th but closed with her lone bogey to miss out on sole possession of the lead. "I played really solid out there," Nordqvist said. "There were a lot of tough pin placements out there." American Lindsey Weaver was one stroke back in fourth on 139 with a pack on 140 including South Korea's Park In-bee at 72-68 and Ko Jin-young, American Angela Stanford, Sweden's Madelene Sagstrom and Thailand's Pornanong Phatlum. js/dw
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