BELLEAIR, Fla. – Charley Hull made five birdies for a 4-under 66 on Friday, giving her a two-stroke lead and an extra day off-season break, as well as a weekend date with Nelly Korda at The Annika.

Hull, who won in Saudi Arabia two weeks ago to end a two-year winless drought, pulled away with three birdies in a five-hole stretch on the back nine at Pelican Golf Club.

Korda, who played for the first time in about 2 months due to a slight neck injury, started with bogey in the 68th round and finished with consecutive birdies. Body.

As for that holiday?

Apparently, Hull made a bet with her boyfriend that for every five birdie rounds he made, he could add an extra day to his European vacation. He made seven birdies on Thursday.

“I played pretty solid,” Hull said. “It was pretty windy, pretty tough. Yeah, I made five birdies today, so it’s an extra day off.”

Alexa Pano made nine birdies before the round ended with a double bogey. It was still good enough for a 64, which left Jin Hee Im (65), Wichanee Meechai (66) and Mi Hyang Lee (68) three shots behind her.

Pano is ranked 66th in the CME Globe Race. This will be the final tournament for the top 60 to qualify for next week’s CME Group Tour Championship, with the winner of the season finale receiving $4 million.

Lee is ranked 59th and has made a big move to make sure he is on the Gulf coast in Naples.

But the weekend’s attention is at its peak; Hull, a carefree character from England who has gained great self-confidence, and Korda, the best in women’s golf, who took the time to join other athletes posing for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

“I always enjoyed playing with Charley. Always a fun time. “I hope we put on a good show,” Korda said.

Hull were 10-under 130.

The wind was so strong that Korda’s main goal was to keep his shots high. Add that to the slippery greens and it did a good job for 66 minutes.

“They are very stylish, yes. It’s almost like putting ice on it,” Korda said. “They do a really good job on the golf course, especially with the wind and the slipperiness of the greens. I feel like when the greens are this hard and fast the wind actually plays a bigger role in the putts because it seems to play with the putts a little bit more.

Mexican Gabby Lopez entered the week ranked 61st in the CME Globe Race and joined the group in eighth place, five strokes behind with 66 points under 135. Also in 135th place was Spain’s Solheim Cup regular Carlota Ciganda, in 63rd place.

Also in jeopardy is the full 100-pack LPGA card this week. Yuri Yoshida entered the week ranked 100th and missed the cut. Former major champion Hyo Joo Kim, who is ranked 58th on the points list and may not make it to the final week, also missed the cut.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf