Yuka Saso, Minjee Lee share U.S. Women's Open lead midway through 2nd round

Minjee Lee and Yuka Saso, recent champions of the strongest test of golf, set the target Friday morning with a few mistakes, a few birdies and a steady diet of pars to share the lead midway through the second round of the U.S. Women's Open.

Lee, whose two majors include a Women's Open at Pine Needles two years ago, made consecutive bogeys at the turn and then played mistake-free the rest of the way for a 1-under 69 at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania.

Saso, the Women's Open champion at Olympic Club in 2021, steadied herself from a rocky start by playing bogey-free over her last 12 holes to salvage a 71.

They were 1-under 139 with half of the 156-player field taking on a Lancaster course that wasn't getting any easier in the afternoon.

Still to be determined was whether that score would hold up at the end of the second round. But it already was clear the weekend would not include Lexi Thompson in what likely is her last U.S. Women's Open. She had four straight bogeys around the turn and shot 75 to finish at 13-over 153.

Also packing up early was Rose Zhang, who was making a run toward giving herself a chance until missing too many par putts. She shot 72 and was 11 over par.

Most telling was Saso being asked to describe her best shot and Lee asked about the one shot she would like to have back. Both had to turn toward a scoring terminal showing their scorecards, needing to jog their memories about the rounds they had just completed.

That's the kind of golf a Women's Open, particularly on a traditional course like Lancaster, can generate. It's about grinding, getting to the next hole and not doing anything to ruin a round.

Saso opened with a 68 for the 18-hole lead and got into trouble early, coming up short of the