Jeon In-ji jumps to tied 5th at Arkansas Championship, 6 shots off lead

Jeon In-ji surged into a tie for fifth place after the second round of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship on the LPGA Tour on Sunday, positioning herself for a potential season-best finish.

Jeon carded a 6-under-par 65 at Pinnacle Country Club (par 71) in Rogers, Arkansas, with seven birdies against a single bogey.

Her two-round total of 10-under 132 lifted her 21 spots up the leaderboard into a tie for fifth from her position Saturday. Kim A-rim also shot 5-under on the day to join Jeon in the tie, while Im Jin-hee, who had been in a tie for third Saturday, added a 4-under round to fall into the same group.

Nishimura Yuna of Japan leads the field after firing back-to-back 8-under 63s, reaching 16-under 126 for the tournament — six shots clear of the tied-fifth group. The 54-hole event concludes Monday with the final round.

Jeon, a four-time LPGA Tour winner, has not claimed a victory since the 2022 KPMG Women's PGA Championship, a drought of roughly four years. Her best result this season was a fourth-place finish at the US Women's Open.

Meanwhile, Lauren Coughlin of the United States made LPGA Tour history Sunday. Starting on the 10th hole, Coughlin birdied each of her first nine holes — a feat the tour said had never been accomplished before in its history.

Coughlin added one more birdie after that stretch to finish bogey-free at 10-under 61, closing the round in a tie for 21st at 8-under 134 for the tournament.