Lydia Ko misses cut at Portland Classic as horror run of form continues

Lydia Ko’s alarming form slump shows no signs of ending.

The struggling Kiwi golfer has failed to make it through to the weekend at the US1.5 million (NZ$2.5 million) Portland Classic in Oregon after shooting an even-par 72 in her second round on Friday (Saturday NZT).

Ko made four birdies and four bogeys in a frustrating round that left her even-par for the championship after carding the same score in her opening round.

With the projected cut line sitting at four-under, that means Ko will miss the cut for the fourth time this season – her worst ever showing on the LPGA Tour.

It caps off a miserable few months for the 26-year-old, who lit up the LPGA Tour last year on her way to winning a swag of trophies.

But since grabbing a share of sixth in her first start of the season, it has been all downhill for Ko, who has failed to make the top 10 in any of the tour’s five majors – missing the cut in two of them.

The two-time major winner started her round at Columbia Edgewater Country Club on Thursday (Friday NZT) in inauspicious fashion, bogeying the par-four 1st hole, and slipped further off the pace with a second bogey on the third pin.

A run of birdies on the 7th, 10th and 12th holes gave Ko some momentum down the stretch, only for a costly slip-up on the par-four 17th to bring her back to even-par.

France’s Perrine Delacour leads the way at -14 after carding a bogey-free five-under 67 to go with her opening round 63 in the rain.

“I just kept patient,” Delacour said. “I mean, of course, coming from a leader on the first day, shooting 9 under, you know you’re not going to shoot twice nine-under.”

Delacour has five top 10s in 11 seasons on the LPGA Tour, with her career best a third-place finish in the 2020 Women’s Australian Open.

Swede Linn Grant, who won her first LPGA Tour title at the Dana Open in July, is a further shot behind after shooting a six-under 66 with American Megan Khang third on 12-under and a group of seven players tied on 10-under after two rounds.

Second-ranked Nelly Korda also was eight-under after a 71, while defending champion Andrea Lee and two-time winner Brooke Henderson were in the group at seven-under. Lee had a 71, and Henderson shot 68.

Missing the cut again means Ko will receive no money for her efforts and she currently sits in 90th place in the Race to the CME Globe standings – a year after being crowned for the third time.

– Additional reporting by AP