A lot of that responsibility will fall on the shoulders of Ko, the world's No 1 amateur. She made the turn in two under par overnight and added two more birdies to get to four under par and close in on the Koreans who had set a hot pace in the morning round. Although she dropped a shot at the par five 18th, her round helped keep New Zealand in touch.
"I hit 17 greens today and I was happy with the way I hit the ball," the 15-year-old said. "It was so hot out there. I felt like my round took years. By the looks of our results, our prediction on scoring lower on the New Course was right. We're tied second and in touch with our goal so we are looking forward to the next two rounds."
Keh was happy to bounce back on her international debut.
"I had a much better round today," the 19-year-old said. "My putting and chipping were good, as were most of my shots which has boosted my confidence.
"It was a very hot day today and I was sweating like I was in a sauna. Tomorrow we will be playing the Old Course again so I will do my best to overcome the challenges I had on day one."
Perry, who mixed six birdies with seven bogeys on day two, felt like she could have scored much better.
"It was a birdie-bogey, birdie-bogey sort of day," she said. "But I hung in there. It could have gone either way, but I made sure it went the way I wanted.
"I am looking forward to playing with some of the top-seeded teams tomorrow as I think it will help to spur me on and I enjoy that atmosphere.
"It was great for Munchin to have such a great bounce back round, too. I think we are all going from strength to strength as a team each day. Lydia is a solid rock score-wise for the team, too so, all in all, it's looking and feeling great."
