Cheyenne Knight 2023 Founders Cup
Cheyenne Knight currently sits two strokes behind the leaders after day two of the Cognizant Founders Cup. (Photo by Christopher Shannon - JSN)

Two Tied for First in Crowd Atop of Leaderboard after Two Days at Founders Cup

Clifton, N.J. - Jin Young Ko and Sarah Kemp lead the field atop a crowded leaderboard at the Cognizant Founders Cup in Clifton, New Jersey.

Ko, who is ranked number three in the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings, stayed steady in round two coupling a second round 4-under-par 68 with an identical, opening round 68 to go into the Upper Montclair Country Club clubhouse with an 8-under for the tournament.  Ko, who won the 2019 and 2021 editions of the Founders Cup, scored her second round 68 thanks to a bogey-free round, and birdies on holes nine, 11, 12, and 18.

"I had a great round today, also yesterday, too. I tried to make a bogey-free round, and I make it," Ko said of her second round performance.

Unlike Ko, Kemp used a second round 7-under-par 65 to catapult from a tie for 30th in the first round to the co-lead after the second round.  Kemp recorded eight birdies for the afternoon, and even held the solo lead at 9-under for a while, but a bogey on 16 ultimately sent her in the clubhouse tied for first at 8-under.

"I just started hitting it good. I had a good warmup. Felt like it was going to be a pretty good day," Kemp said of her round, adding, "So, yeah, just hitting fairways and greens, and, yeah, just happened to go in really early on, so it was a nice trend to the day."

...I just wanted to have two good rounds to start the week, and I'm in a good position for the weekend.  I'm just going to stick to my game plan, hit good drives, hit good shots into the greens, and hit good putts. That's all that I can control.

~ Minjee Lee after her first two rounds at the Founders Cup

Defending Founders Cup champion, Minjee Lee finds herself in a three-way tie for third with Aditi Ashok, and Hae Ran Ryu after the second day of competition in Clifton.  All three golfers finished the day at 7-under-par.

"I actually haven't really been thinking too much about the defending champion bit, but I mean, I just wanted to have two good rounds to start the week, and I'm in a good position for the weekend," Lee said after her round.  "I'm just going to stick to my game plan, hit good drives, hit good shots into the greens, and hit good putts. That's all that I can control."

Of note, Rolex Rankings No. 1, Nelly Korda and Chevron Championship winner, Lilia Vu missed the cut and did not advance to the weekend.  Korda carded a +2 while Vu finished with a +4.  Garden State golfers Karen Chung (+4) and Katie Lu (+11) also failed to make the cut, which was made at +1.

Saturday's third round action at the Cognizant Founders Cup will tee off at 9:35 a.m. with the co-leaders teeing off at 2:55 p.m.  The action from Upper Montclair Country Club can be seen live on television on NBC GOLF Channel from 5-7 p.m., and on Peacock, or the NBC Sports App, from 4-7 p.m. 

Christopher Shannon