EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France — Brooke Henderson is setting the pace in record-breaking style at the Evian Championship.
The Canadian player shot a second straight 7-under 64 on Friday to take a 3-stroke lead after the second round of the fourth major of the year.
She is the first player in the history of the U.S. LPGA to begin a major with two rounds of 64 or lower. And Henderson, who is 14 under for the tournament, thinks there is a reason for her fast start.
“I’ve been having a lot of crêpes in France,” she said, smiling. “To keep the momentum going, I’d better have some more.”
Nelly Korda is the only player in the 132-woman field within 4 shots of Henderson. The U.S. Olympic champion and former No. 1 was 3 back, having finished birdie-eagle at the picturesque Evian Resort Golf Club to shoot 67.
It is Korda’s fifth event since returning to competitive action after more than four months out because of surgery on a blood clot on her arm.
South Korean players Sei Young Kim (65) and So Yeon Ryu (66) were tied for third place at 9 under, 5 shots adrift of Henderson. Among the bunch of six players at 8-under par was France’s Perrine Delacour after her round of 68.
Henderson, who won her only major title at the Women’s PGA Championship in 2016, started her afternoon round 4 shots behind Korda, who was part of the morning wave, and birdied her first two holes.
There was a bogey at No. 3 and a birdie at No. 9 before Henderson went on a roll over the back nine. She had back-to-back birdies from No. 11 and then made putts from 15 feet, 8 feet and 10 feet for birdies on the final three holes.
“It feels really nice to get off to a fast start in a major championship,” Henderson said. “It’s been a while since I’ve been able to do that. To get it this far under par is really awesome, and I feel like I’m hitting the ball really well, which is nice, and making some putts.”
The highlight of Korda’s round was her second shot at the par-5 18th, a high fade that landed in the middle of the green and rolled to inside 3 feet. She made no mistake with the putt for eagle.
Korda said she has been suffering from jet lag and barely slept ahead of the early start to her second round, which opened with what she described as 10 “stress-free” pars.
Like Henderson, Korda has won one major championship — last year’s Women’s PGA Championship — and was No. 1 in the world when she stopped playing in February. Now she is No. 3 and is coming off three top-10 finishes since her return.
First-round leader Ayaka Furue shot 72, 9 strokes worse than Thursday, and was in a five-strong group at 7 under.