Choi shares lead at The Annika as Korda stalls on 17 pars

Hye-Jin Choi moved into a share of the 36-hole lead at The Annika after a three-under 67 built around two early bogeys and a 15-foot eagle putt, putting her in position for a first LPGA Tour win in 127 attempts.

She sits at 12-under 128 at Pelican Golf Club alongside Carlota Ciganda, who birdied her last four holes for a 63, and Lindy Duncan, who carded a 66.

Choi opened her round with bogeys on her first two holes before clawing back momentum, then holed out from just under 15 feet for eagle on the par-5 seventh after her approach kicked off the green and rolled in.

Choi has been an LPGA member for five years without a victory, a stretch that includes a runner-up finish as a 17-year-old at the 2017 U.S. Women's Open and further close calls in Shanghai and South Korea during the recent Asia swing, according to Yahoo Sports.

She credited two rounds spent in Nelly Korda's group for steadying her nerves heading into the weekend. "I have two rounds left, but I have recently played in a champion group on the tournament before, so I have that experience and I'm going just try my best and concentrate on my game like two rounds," Choi said.

World No. 1 Korda, competing for the first time in two months, could not convert a tidy card into a low score, managing 15 straight pars either side of a single birdie for a bogey-free 69 that left her four shots behind at 8-under.

"I had a lot of chances," Korda said. "But you can just tell that from yesterday morning to today afternoon with the wind, that's what the defense of this golf course is. It's as fast as Bermuda as I've putted on throughout my career."

A win this week would make the 28-year-old American eligible for the LPGA Hall of Fame.

Mao Saigo and Minami Katsu, the Japanese pair who shot 65 and 69 respectively, sit two shots back of the three co-leaders.

Duncan, the 35-year-old Floridian, has yet to win on the LPGA Tour but held at least a share of the 36-hole lead for the first time in her career. She went 2-1 in her Solheim Cup debut this year, becoming the oldest American first-timer in the event since Nancy Scranton at 39 in 2000, Yahoo Sports reported.

This marks her sixth straight tournament and fifth consecutive week on the road, a run that has taken her from Shanghai to South Korea, Malaysia, Japan and now the Tampa Bay area.

"The week has gone by really fast, which is sometimes a good thing," Duncan said. "Because if you're playing a lot and you get some momentum going, that's kind of a nice way to play. So it's just been kind of rolling with it."

Julia Lopez Ramirez of Spain, who beat Yealimi Noh in a decisive Solheim Cup singles match on her debut, is among the group at 9-under 131, a result that matters given she arrived at the tournament ranked 66th in the Race to CME Globe.

The Annika is the final regular-season event of the LPGA season, with the top 60 in the Race to CME Globe standings advancing to next week's season finale in Naples, where the winner will collect $2 million.

Scoring conditions were generous enough in the opening round that 1-under 139 was sufficient to survive the cut.