A record-breaking crowd showed up at the Kingsmill Championship Thursday, with round one attendance at the LPGA event at 10,209, higher than the previous record of 7,762 that was set in 2009.
The news got better Friday, when ticket sales at the gate exceeded Thursday’s numbers by 10 a.m. as golf fans flocked to the River Course to see if Jiyai Shin would hold onto her lead.
She did.
[stextbox id=”news-sidebar” caption=”Leaderboard” float=”true” align=”right” width=”200″ bwidth=”1″]Jiyai Shin -12
Danielle Kang -11
Dewi Claire Schreefel -10
Paula Creamer -10
Azahara Munoz -9
Lexi Thompson -9
Maria Hjorth -8
Stacy Lewis -8
Jodi Eward -7
Chella Choi -7[/stextbox]
Click here for the full leaderboard.
Shin moved one step closer to getting herself back in the winner’s circle on Friday, shooting a 3-under 68 to capture the second-round lead at the Kingsmill Championship. Shin followed up her tournament-record 62 on Thursday with four birdies and one bogey in Friday’s round and moved to 12-under-par for the tournament. She leads LPGA Tour rookie Danielle Kang, the U.S. Women’s Amateur champion for 2010 and 2011, by one stroke after Kang shot the low round on Friday, a 7-under 64. Click here for an interview with Shin.
An eight-time winner on the LPGA Tour, Shin has gone nearly two years without a victory. Her last win came at the 2010 Mizuno Classic in Japan.
Right behind Shin and Kang are Dewi Claire Schreefel of the Netherlands and Paula Creamer, both at 10-under.
Two-time Kingsmill Championship winner Cristie Kerr shot rounds of 72-74 to miss her second LPGA Tour cut this season
A total of 72 players made the 36-hole cut, which fell at 1-under par (141).
“The great thing about hosting a first-rate sporting event like the Kingsmill Championship is that all of the fans are eager to come out and watch,” said Kingsmill Executive Director Wayne Nooe. “With a clear forecast and stellar leaderboard ahead, we anticipate even larger crowds through the weekend.”
Tickets are still available online at www.thekingsmillchampionship.com. Gates open to the general public at 7 a.m. For the latest information, please visit the tournament website at www.thekingsmillchampionship.com.
