Brinker just one shot back at midway point of Girls Junior PGA Championship at Keney Park

   Phoebe Brinker, an Archmere Academy senior from Wilmington, Del., remained very much in the hunt at the midway point of the Girls Junior PGA Championship at the Keney Park Golf Course in Windsor, Conn. Wednesday.

   Brinker, who captured the DIAA championship for the third time in May at Cripple Creek Country Club, added a 4-under-par 66 Wednesday to the 5-under 65 she carded in Tuesday’s opening round for a 9-under 131 total that left her in a tie for second, a shot behind 2017 Girls Junior PGA Championship winner Rose Zhang of Irvine, Calif.

   Zhang fired a brilliant 7-under 63, briefly a women’s course record at Keney Park, after opening with a 67 to grab the lead at 10-under 130.

   Brinker’s opening-round 65 had tied the course record set by her cousin, former North Carolina standout Kelly Whaley, and shared the lead with Sara Im of Duluth, Ga. and Yuka Saso of the Philippines.

   Starting on the back nine at Keney Park, Brinker rattled off birdies at the 10^th, 12^th and 14^th holes and was on a roll until a bogey at the 16^th hole halted her momentum a little. Birdies on the second and sixth holes got her to 4-under for her round and 9-under for the tournament.

   “The greens were definitely harder (than the first day),” Brinker told the PGA of America website. “I started very well, but I wasn’t hitting it very close and lost the putter for a few holes. But I was playing with two great girls (Megan Schofill and Annabelle Pancake), so we had fun all day. That helped the nerves go away.”

   Like Brinker, Zhang, No. 16 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), started on the back nine at Keney Park and lit it up with birdies at the 11^th, 16^th and 18^th holes and an eagle at the par-5 14^th hole when a long breaking putt found the bottom of the cup.

   Birdies at the third, fourth and sixth holes got her to 8-under for the round before a closing bogey at the ninth left her with a career-best 63. Her 130 total is a 36-hole record for the Girls Junior PGA Championship.

   Zhang won in 2017 at the Country Club of St. Albans’ Lewis & Clark Course in St. Albans, Mo. with a 20-under total. She shot 20-under again a year ago at the Kearney Hill Golf Links in Lexington, Ky., but was no match for fellow Californian Yealimi Noh.

   Zhang qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open this spring at the Country Club of Charleston and played the weekend, finishing tied for 55^th.

   Like Brinker, Im, the winner of the Girls 12-13 division in the 2018 Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals, added a 4-under 66 to her opening-round 65 to get a share of second with Brinker at 9-under 131.

   Saso, a semifinalist in the 2016 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Rolling Green Golf Club as a 15-year-old, backed off a little from her opening-round 65 with a 2-under 68 that left her alone in fourth place at 7-under 133, two shots behind Brinker and Im.

   Saso also teed it up in the U.S. Women’s Open at the Country Club of Charleston, but failed to make the cut.

   Zhang had lowered the women’s course record at Keney Park by two shots until Megha Ganne of Holmdel, N.J. did her one better with a sizzling eight-birdie, no-bogey 8-under 62 Wednesday. Combined with her opening-round 72, Ganne, a four-time qualifier for the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals, was alone in fifth place at 6-under 134. Ganne also earned herself a spot in the U.S. Women’s Open field at the Country Club of Charleston, but failed to make the cut.

   Rachel Heck of Memphis, Tenn. and No. 14 in the Women’s WAGR headed a group of three players tied for sixth place at 5-under 135. Heck, the American Junior Golf Association’s 2017 Rolex Player of the Year who is still a year away from joining the powerhouse Stanford program, added a 3-under 67 to her opening-round 68.

   Joining Heck at 5-under were Brinker’s playing partner Megan Schofill of Monticello, Fla., who will join the Auburn program later this summer, and Jensen Castle of West Columbia, S.C., who is headed for Kentucky at the end of the summer.

   Schofill fired a sparkling 6-under 64, which would have been a women’s course record before Wednesday, after opening with a 71. Castle added a 2-under 69 to her opening-round 67.

   Caroline Wrigley, who claimed the PIAA Class AAA crown as a senior at North Allegheny last fall, fell just out of the top 10 as she added an even-par 70 to her opening-round 67 to join the group tied for 13^th at 3-under 137.

   Wrigley, who will join the Furman program later this summer, has a couple more big events on her dance card as she has already qualified for the U.S. Girls’ Junior Championship later this month at SentryWorld in Stevens Point, Wis. and for the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Miss. in August.

   Wrigley added a Pennsylvania Junior Girls’ Championship at Hershey Country Club’s East Course last month to her scholastic state crown.

   Recent Conestoga graduate Samantha Yao, the winner of the Philadelphia Girls Junior PGA Championship at Bellewood Country Club, carded a second straight 2-over 72 and made the 36-hole cut with her 4-over 144 total. The cut fell at 5-over 145.

   Yao, who will join the Dartmouth program later this summer, also earned a ticket to SentryWorld for the U.S. Girls’ Junior in a Golf Association of Philadelphia-administered qualifier last week at the Steel Club.

   Lydia Swan, the PIAA Class AA runnerup as a freshman at North East last fall, failed to make the cut with a 149 total. Swan had opened with a solid 2-over 72, but fell back with a 77 Wednesday. Swan finished third behind Wrigley in the state Junior Girls’ Championship at Hershey.

   Esther Park, a recent A.I. DuPont graduate from Wilmington, Del., added a 77 to her opening-round 76 for a 153 total. Park, who will join the Georgetown program later this summer, was the runnerup to Yao at Bellewood and was also representing the Philadelphia Section PGA Junior Tour at Keney Park.