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World number one Nelly Korda moved to the top of the leaderboard with a score of eight under par on day two of the Women’s British Open at St. Andrews.
Korda won six of seven LPGA Tour starts between January and May, including her second major at the Chevron Championship.
However, she has failed to even make the cut at two of the last three majors since.
With a bogey-free 68, the American finished three shots ahead of defending champion Lilia Vu and Britain’s Charley Hull. The trio played together in a star-studded field over the first two days.
Korda credited the putter change with his improvement in form over the past two months.
“I just needed something different to look at. Sometimes you just need to change things up,” she said after battling high winds and torrential rain on Scotland’s east coast.
“I just try to stay very present and not think about anything other than one shot at a time, and whatever golf and the golf course throws at me, I’m going to face it head on.
“I think when the conditions are a little bit more difficult, in a sense, normal golf is thrown out the window and you just try to play with the wind.”
Vu, world number two, was two shots behind for the day and thus found himself in the race.
Hall led the standings Thursday but missed the chance to move into pole position for her first major after a tied round that left her three shots behind.
“I actually think I hit as well as I did yesterday,” Hall said.
“I missed three or four four-foot putts, but that was early in my round.
“But then once I got over that, I fell back into my movement and felt good.
Olympic gold medalist Lydia Ko is also among 10 players five shots off the lead at three under par.
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