Golf: Lydia Ko makes the cut at British Open

Lydia Ko. Photo / Brett Phibbs.

Leading New Zealand golfer Lydia Ko has required a helping hand to edge inside the cut line at the Women's British Open.

Ko bounced back from a poor opening round to card a solid two-under par 70 in Scotland yesterday, making the cut by a solitary stroke at one-under par through two rounds.

The former world No.1 jumped 29 places into a tie for 65th place, with two birdies on the back nine just enough to make the weekend.

Ko has now made 25 cuts in 26 major events, including all five British Opens, but it was a close call.

For several hours it looked like Ko would miss the cut, but fortunately for the 20-year-old Kiwi, the cut mark dropped from two-under to one-under as others dropped shots in the often tricky conditions.

After struggling at last week's Scottish Open, Ko again had issues with her putting, having taken 65 putts in total through the first two days, negating a decent day with the driver and some strong iron play, hitting 16 of 18 greens in regulation.

It was a consistent day, with Ko carding a bogey-free round, but several of her contemporaries went lower to set a tough pace to follow at the top of the leaderboard.

Ko is 10 shots behind Korean leader In-Kyung Kim, who shot a 68 to create a two shots lead over England's Georgia Hall and American Lexi Thompson.

Kim is a two-time winner on the LPGA Tour this year, and is one of the most in-form golfers on the tour, but will be challenged by Thompson, who has risen to a career high second in the world rankings.

Some of women's golf other leading lights are struggling, with world number one So Yeon Ryu alongside Ko at one-under par, while world number three Ariya Jutanugarn missed the cut.