On the LPGA Tour, the cut-off benchmark is tied for 65th place. Players tied for 65th advance past the cut line, but those at 66th face elimination. Finishing 65th is the best outcome; 66th is the worst.
A worst-case cut-off scenario unfolded in the second round of the JM Eagle LA Championship, held Friday (Korean time) at El Caballero Country Club (par 72) in Los Angeles, California.
As the round neared its end, players tied for 65th were inside the cut line. But in the final stretch, one player shaved a stroke and moved up, pushing those tied for 65th down to a tie for 66th, eliminating them in one stroke.
The tied-66th group (1-under 143) that missed the cut included Korean players Lee Som-i, Chun In-gee, Yang Hee-young and Lee Jeong-eun VI, along with Mimi Rhodes of England, who is ranked second in the Rookie of the Year standings.
Exactly 65 players advanced to the third round, including 13 Koreans.
Four Korean players sat in a tie for 53rd (2-under 142), the final cut line. Lee Dong-eun, who shaved four strokes on the day, along with Ko Jin-young, An Na-rin and Lee Il-hee, narrowly secured their spots in the third round.
Lee Dong-eun, who had been well outside the cut line after the first round, made the cut by shaving four strokes in the second round. With five birdies and just one bogey, she trimmed four strokes off her score, with only four players posting lower rounds on the day. Coming off her first missed cut at the previous Ford Championship, this cut qualification carried significant meaning.
Ko Jin-young's cut qualification came with great difficulty. Starting on the 10th hole, she played a comfortable round with four birdies through her first 10 holes up to the 1st. But she fell into cut-off peril as bogeys piled up on holes 4, 6 and 7 on the back nine. Pars on her final two holes allowed her to squeeze through the cut.
Hwang Yu-min produced another dramatic scenario, jumping 20 places from a tie for 59th the previous day to a tie for 39th (3-under 141) to make the cut.
In the first round, Hwang showed severe swings with six birdies and four bogeys. Fortunately, she finished on a high note with back-to-back birdies on her final two holes. But starting the 10th hole in the second round, she wobbled again with consecutive bogeys on her first two holes. After her fourth bogey on the 5th hole (par 4) of the back nine, she had just one stroke of cushion to the cut line. One more bogey on her remaining four holes would have meant elimination. But on the final 9th hole (par 3), she drained her fifth birdie of the day to move comfortably past the cut line. Hwang, who shot 2-under 70 in the first round, carded 1-under 71 in the second.
Korean women's golf, which has collected three wins in the previous seven tournaments, pushed on toward a fourth victory of the season. Kim Sei-young, who shot 7-under 65, took the solo lead at 14-under 140, while Yoon Ina, who carded 8-under 64, is chasing her first career win from solo third at 12-under 142.
Im Jin-hee, who also cut four strokes on the day, climbed to a tie for fourth at 9-under 135, while Lee Mi-hyang and Park Geum-gang are eyeing the lead group from a tie for 15th at 6-under 138.
Chisato Iwai of Japan, who held the solo lead after the first round, slipped one spot to solo second at 13-under 131 but remains a threat to the Korean players. Kim Hyo-joo, Choi Hye-jin and Australian-Korean Minjee Lee withdrew.
