EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France >> Celine Boutier posted a 2-under 69 in the second round of the Evian Championship to move to 7 under overall, giving her a one-shot lead on Friday.
But surprise overnight leader Paula Reto dropped down the leaderboard after a 4-over 75.
Hawaii’s Allisen Corpuz is nine shots off the lead in her bid for a second straight major victory.
She started her round with a double bogey and rose to 4 over par after 10 holes before rallying. She birdied the 11th and 16th holes and parred the rest for a 35 on the back and a 73 total to stay in 39th place and make the cut by two strokes.
She is No. 4 in the LPGA’s Race to the CME Cup standings and No. 3 Ayaka Furue is behind her in a tie for 52nd in the tournament.
Ruoning Yin, who played with Corpuz the first two days, entered the tournament No. 1 in the CME rankings but missed the cut.
The 29-year-old Boutier, who was two shots back from Reto overnight, is looking to become the first Frenchwoman to win the tournament, which became a major in 2013.
“It’s really great to feel the support from the fans when you play some good shots and some good putts go in,” Boutier said. “This kind of support used to put me under pressure in the past, and I didn’t cope well with it, but this year I’m trying to stay very relaxed.”
Her solid round kept her narrowly ahead of Thailand’s Patty Tavatanakit, who carded 67, and Japan’s Yuka Saso (69), in a tie for second.
They are one shot ahead of Nasa Hataoka of Japan (67), Mexico’s Gaby Lopez (68) and American Alison Lee (71).
Reto struggled badly on the back nine, with a double bogey on the 12th hole followed by three bogeys over the next four holes.
The 33-year-old South African ended the day in a tie for eighth at 3 under overall along with defending champion Brooke Henderson of Canada, who finished on 70.
Boutier was level with 2015 champion Lydia Ko of New Zealand overnight, but Ko drifted way back into a tie for 22nd after a dismal round of 76 at the Evian Resort Golf Club.
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