Kiwi golfer Lydia Ko has bounced back with a field-topping second round at the LPGA event in Florida.
Tied for 59th at the start of play on Saturday (NZ time), Ko shot the best score of the day, carding a superb seven-under par 65 to rocket to a share of 11th on the leaderboard (NZ time) at the Tiburon Golf Club in Naples.
Ko is now five-under overall alongside American Mina Harigae, four shots behinds leader Ko Jin-Young of Korea.
The bogey-free round included seven birdies to put her firmly in contention to claim the championship she last won back in 2014.
"I got off to a good start," Ko says. "Having lots of birdie opportunities, I think that was really key.
"Even though it was getting a little breezy at the start of the day, I set up a lot of good chances for birdies, so it makes it a lot less stressful, I think.
"Whereas if you're trying to make up and down it wears on you pretty quick."
Now ranked 36th in the world, Ko has recorded seven top-15 finishes in her last 11 starts since bringing new coach Sean Foley on board in July.
Ko says her victory at the event in 2014 a course gave her the confidence needed to respond, after a lacklustre opening round on Friday.
In fact, she still holds the course record of 62 from that outing six years ago.
"When you come back to a course you know you played well at, and usually I feel like every day there is always one player or a few players that ends up going pretty low, so it kind of gives you a little bit hope at the back of your mind," she admits.
"But today really when I was going out there I just wanted to play the best golf I can and not really think about my position and all that.
"I think that definitely helped, and I was able to do that pretty well."
Ko will tee off her third round at 4:17am.
