World No 1 Nelly Korda jumped into the hunt for her first Women's Open title by shooting the day's lowest round at 67, leaving her just two shots back after struggling Thursday at the US Women's Open.
The American shot five birdies and just the one bogey, compared to round one's four bogeys and two birdies, as she settled into the course on Friday.
But it was Alison Lee who seized a share of the lead with a second-round 68, joining Ruoning Yin at four-under 138 atop a crowded leaderboard at Riviera.
Opening-round leader Jennifer Kupcho, Sei Young Kim and Mexico's Gaby Lopez were in a group of six at 3-under 139, while Korda and three others were at 140.
"To win in basically my backyard, where I grew up, would be super cool," Lee said.
"I don't want to get ahead of myself but if you'd told me I would be in this spot at the beginning of the week, I probably would have started crying.
"I'm not going to lie, it's been very tough.
"I've gone through a few stages, a few slumps, if you want to call it, in my career, even since I was like 15 years old. ... no matter what I did, no matter how much I practiced, it just wasn't going my way."
The 31-year-old Lee is a two-time Solheim Cup participant, but she has yet to win on the LPGA Tour while managing just two top-10 finishes at 44 majors.
Lee also took most of last year off after giving birth to her son, Levi, in 2024 but is determined to still fight for her first Tour win.
England's Charley Hull still trails behind the leaders after a bogey on the 18th hole took her one-over-par for the day, and seven behind Lee and Yin.
Lottie Woad also just survived the cut after a second plus-two round that saw her hit four bogeys and two birdies.
Only two players managed a bogey-free round Friday - including China's Yin, who semi-jokingly called Riviera "passive aggressive" despite being the only player in the field to shoot two sub-70 rounds so far.
"I love it," Yin said. "I always say that the more difficult (the course), the better."
Kim was one shot behind Kupcho after the opening round, and she was thrust into the lead early in the second despite shooting one over on the front nine.
She bogeyed the 18th to drop her share of the lead in one of the day's final groups. Kupcho scuffled to a second-round 73 after carding the only 66 of the tournament so far on Thursday.
Madelene Sagstrom, who is seven months pregnant, improved on her round one performance and hit two birdies, but with a collection of bogeys alongside them, her five-over 76 round two meant she didn't make the cut.
Ireland's Leona Maguire struggled to 75 to take her nine-over after two rounds and therefore also didn't make the cut.
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