Par excellence, New Zealand's Ko stays in contention

GUYANCOURT, France : Making par is as important as eye-catching scoring shots on an unforgiving Olympic golf course near Paris, New Zealand's Lydia Ko said on Thursday after a solid second round kept her in contention to win the title.

The 27-year-old former world number one is competing in her third Games. Victory would complete her medal set after silver in Rio and bronze in Tokyo and yield the last point she needs to qualify for the women's golf LPGA Hall of Fame.

South Korean-born Ko, a twice major winner who first topped the world rankings when she was 17, made six birdies and one bogey to move up to third on the leaderboard at five under par after the second round at Le Golf National.

"People get so excited about birdies," Ko told reporters. "But at the same time, I think pars are sometimes what kind of get some momentum going, because you're not losing shots. And around this golf course, that's so important."

The difficulties of the course were again apparent on Thursday. Players hitting consistently like Ko and leader Morgane Metraux of Switzerland made progress while others like overnight leader Celine Boutier of France and American defending champion Nelly Korda fell foul of water and bunker hazards.

"I think this is the toughest golf course we've played in the past three Games," Ko said.

"Honestly, this golf course is so hard. It's like it's hard to think about the other things," she added.

Ko is part of a 60-strong field competing for podium positions at the end of the four-round tournament on Saturday.