Korean Lee grabs halfway lead at Evian Championship

South Korea's Lee Mi-hyang recovered from a double-bogey to card a four-under-par 67 and take the lead at Evian Championship in France on Friday.

Lee started one-stroke off the lead after a firing 65 in the opening round and seized her early opportunities with birdies on first two holes.

A mini-blip followed on the par-five ninth as she dropped two stokes to make the turn at 35 but the 26-year-old responded with birdies on 16th and 17th.

An eagle on par-five 18th completed a spectacular turnaround as Lee took the clubhouse lead at 10-under.

One stroke behind is fellow South Korean Kim Hyo-joo, who needed just 26 putts on her way to a bogey-free 64.

Kim's compatriots Park Sung-hyun and Inbee Park joined her at nine-under overall after carding impressive rounds of 66 and 68, respectively.

It proved to be a week to forget for world number three Lexi Thompson, who comfortably missed the cut with rounds of 77 and 72 which placed her at seven-over for the tournament.

Thompson was far from impressed with the course conditions at the Evian Resort Golf Club and the American took to Instagram to express her frustration.

"Not one to make excuses, but to land 3-4 drives in the middle of fairway and end up in the rough like the one pic with a stance like that, or get a first cut lie like this one, what is this telling you?," Thompson said https://www.instagram.com/p/B0YWIpdHw0w.

"And to play well today hit one bad golf shot but hit 3 iron shots right at the pin 5 ft at one point then end up 40+ ft....umm really?

"I'm actually very thankful that I don't have to put myself thru that for another two days. You're a beautiful place Evian but that's just too many bad breaks with good shots for me."