Nelly Korda is back on the hunt for another LPGA title, as the World No. 1 caught co-leader Brianna Do for the 36-hole lead at the Riviera May Open at Mayakoba on Friday in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

Korda — fresh off her third major victory at last week’s Chevron Championship and having regained the No. 1 ranking — shot a 5-under-par 67 in the second round at El Camaleon Golf Course to get to 9-under 135 entering the weekend.

She tied Do, who shared the first-round lead with Melanie Green and posted a 69 Friday. Do held the top spot at 10 under for most of her inward nine, but she committed her only flub on her final hole, a bogey at the par-4 ninth, to slip back to single figures.

Green (70) ended the day alone in third at 8 under, and Japan’s Minami Katsu (68) sits in fourth at 7 under.

Korda birdied three holes on the front nine and two more coming home without a bogey. She hit 16 of 18 greens in regulation, despite only finding 7 of 14 fairways.

“Overall just a solid day. You know, didn’t make any mistakes really. If I did, I bounced back really well,” Korda said.

In five starts before this week, Korda, 27, has two victories and three second-place finishes.

Do provides a sharp contrast. The 36-year-old has been grinding on tour since her rookie year in 2013 and has exactly one top-10 finish on her resume — which happened to come at this event last year.

Ranked No. 345 in the world, Do said she carried the momentum from her opening 66 into Friday, with birdies at Nos. 10 and 11 to kick off her round.

“I put myself in that position last year here and so I think I’m going to be a little more prepared for it this year,” Do said of contending. “I don’t think you’re ever very comfortable being in contention and leading, and so I’m going accept it and kind of just play within myself and feel the feels and kind of see what happens. Just accept what happens.”

Yu Liu of China eagled the par-5 18th to post the round of the day, a 66 that brought her to 6 under and a tie for fifth with Spain’s Carlota Ciganda (71).

Tied for seventh at 5 under are Olivia Cowan of Germany (68), Sofia Garcia of Paraguay (69), Arpichaya Yubol of Thailand (69) and Gaby Lopez of Mexico (71).

Lopez missed the cut at the Riviera May Open last year in its debut on the schedule. Now she is grateful to be in contention at the tournament in her home country while playing in a group with Korda.

“It’s been really, really fun to play in Mexico, play with Nelly,” Lopez said. “Today wasn’t exactly my day. I didn’t hit it as good off the tee. Got myself a little bit in trouble.

“But very happy how I’m hitting my irons. The putts are just patiently hoping to drop. Yeah, very happy with how I’m feeling inside the golf course.”

–Field Level Media

Two weeks after claiming his first PGA Tour Champions major title, Stewart Cink has put himself into position to collect his second.

Cink, 52, fired a 7-under-par 65 on Friday at Greystone Golf and Country Club in Birmingham, Ala., to take a two-shot lead over Charlie Wi halfway through the 72-hole Regions Tradition.

Cink sits at 14-under 130, which puts him three ahead of South Africa’s Retief Goosen, Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee and Czechia’s Alex Cejka and five beyond New Zealand’s Steven Alker.

For the second day in a row, Cink stacked eight birdies versus one bogey.

“I made a long putt on 17,” Cink said. “Had a couple two-putt birdies, a couple pretty simple up-and-downs. It was really nothing for the history books, it was just some good play. The golf course is really receiving the ball really well. You know, the greens are soft, but they’re not spinning back that much so it’s really, it’s very scorable out there.”

Cink, who grew up 120 miles northwest of Birmingham in Florence, Ala., will have a bigger gallery following him this weekend because he’s so close to home.

“And it has nothing to do with being on top of the leaderboard,” Cink said. “They were already coming, so I’m glad they’re going to be here. I’m going to have some of my north and central Alabaman friends and family here the rest of the weekend, so that will be great to see them and hopefully give them something to cheer about.”

Goosen joined Cink and Ken Tanigawa as the only players in the 77-man field to deliver a 65 on Friday. Goosen, though, wasn’t satisfied with his performance.

“If you can drive it well on this course, you’re going to have a lot of short irons in,” Goosen said. “The greens at the moment are just perfect, but today I missed a lot of fairways in — a couple of really wild ones. Going to go hit a few now and try and see if I can smooth it out.”

Wi enjoyed a spectacular start on his way to a second consecutive 66. He opened his round on the back nine and began with five consecutive birdies, which the 54-year-old believed to be a first in his career.

“‘ve been hitting my irons really well,” Wi said. “I’ve been hitting them pretty close, so I (gave) myself a lot of opportunities, and I was able to make a couple putts.”

–Field Level Media

McLaren’s Lando Norris beat out Mercedes’ young star and Formula 1 championship leader Kimi Antonelli for pole position in spring qualifying Friday at the Miami Grand Prix.

Norris emerged from a one-lap shootout in SQ3 0.222 seconds better than Antonelli, with McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri in third, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc fourth and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen fifth.

The Brit earned McLaren’s first P1 of the young season with his SQ3 time of 1:27.869.

“It was great, a perfect result for us,” Norris said, per Formula1.com. “A nice way to reward the team. We’ve got a lot of new upgrades on the car, so it’s nice to feel some grip again and nice to reward the guys and the girls that have put a lot of work into this. I’ve always loved Miami, both on and off the track. It’s a good result for us. Of course, it’s just the beginning of the weekend, still a long way to go but nice to kick it off by doing this.”

Norris is the reigning F1 World Drivers’ champion and won seven Grand Prix last year; he also earned his first F1 victory at the 2024 Miami Grand Prix. Meanwhile, the 19-year-old Italian Antonelli has won each of the last two F1 stops, the Chinese and Japanese Grand Prix, starting from the pole each time.

Next comes the Sprint on Saturday at noon. The Miami Grand Prix is slated for Sunday afternoon.

–Field Level Media