Bogey-Free Yamashita Seizes 36-Hole Lead at New Korea Country Club on Hangul Day in South Korea during the Second Round of the Aramco Korea Championship

Japan’s Miyu Yamashita continued her masterclass in ball-striking at New Korea Country Club, navigating a clinical, bogey-free 4-under 68 on Friday to claim a two-shot cushion at 9-under through 36 holes of the Aramco Korea Championship. Despite battling cross-Pacific fatigue following a quick turnaround from Hawaii, the major champion looked unflappable down the stretch, capping her round with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 16 and 17 in front of massive, energized Seoul galleries. Hot on her heels into the weekend are home favorite Sung Hyun Park (69) and Sweden’s Louise Rydqvist, who stormed into contention with a flawless 67, both lurking at 7-under and setting the stage for a fiery Saturday shootout.

The high-stakes duel near Seoul highlights why this tournament has become a marquee stop on the Ladies European Tour calendar, driven by Golf Saudi’s sustained, purpose-driven push to elevate women’s professional sport. Beyond delivering elite global fields and equal-footing prize funds through the PIF Global Series, Golf Saudi’s commitment has steadily shifted the commercial paradigm in golf, investing not just in competitive infrastructure and grassroots pathways, but in global stages that give top-tier female athletes the spotlight and financial support that they deserve. As Yamashita battles to defend her lead over the weekend, the warm atmosphere at New Korea proves that when the world invests boldly in women’s golf, the game delivers tenfold.

Beyond the action on the fairway at New Korea Country Club, Friday’s competition was anchored by a critical conversation off the course as the championship hosted the third edition of The Women in Sports Playbook (WISP) panel series in South Korea, a women’s sports business series, elaborating on topics relevant to women’s sports, to further enhance the game.

Following earlier stops in Las Vegas and London, the Seoul session, titled The 6% Blind Spot in Sports Medicine, directly confronted the reality that only 6% of global sports science research focuses exclusively on female athletes. Crucially, the discussion highlighted how Golf Saudi and the Public Investment Fund (PIF), in strategic alignment with the Ladies European Tour (LET) and the R&A, is actively funding the solution, backing landmark initiatives like the global SWING study alongside four dedicated doctoral programs targeting female biomechanics, menstrual health, and load management.

The panel emphasized that closing this research deficit is a direct driver of athlete longevity and high-performance execution across all professional sports. Panelists Dr. Danny Glover (Head of Medical and Sports Science, LET), Scarlett Juwon Jung (Founder & CEO, Vespexx, FemTech), Boram Bae (Head of Digital Products, Samsung Health), and Yoon Kim, CEO of WAAC golf apparel, detailing how continuous biometric tracking, individualized cycle modeling, and kinetic performance apparel are replacing outdated male baselines to redefine the future of player care.

"The old philosophy of 'shrink it and pink it' could not be more wrong," said Dr. Danny Glover, Head of Medical and Sports Science, LET, "How we train female golfers in the gym today is completely unrecognizable from three years ago because men’s performance models simply do not translate one-to-one to female biomechanics. With Golf Saudi, the LET, and the R&A backing this research, we aren't guessing anymore, we are generating proprietary female data and building a high-performance blueprint that every women's sports league will eventually have to adopt."

Heading into Saturday’s critical third round, the focus shifts to moving day at New Korea Country Club, where the world’s elite will put that physical preparation and endurance to the test. With difficult pin positions, tightening fairways, and the team championship title on the line, Saturday promises high-stakes drama as contenders look to separate themselves from the chasing pack ahead of Sunday’s final charge.