Leona Maguire remains inside the top 10 after carding a level-par 72 while South Korea’s Somi Lee shot an impressive second round of 65 (-6), to lead the way on 10-under par after 36 holes at The Amundi Evian Championship.
After the fireworks in round one which included a hole-in-one on the second, the Cavan woman found the going a little tougher on day two. Three times she made it to -7, and each time she dropped a shot to fall back to her starting total, the final bogey coming on the 18th and she feels that she needs to drive the ball better than she did today if she’s to find herself in contention on Sunday.
“Didn’t drive the ball well enough today, so didn’t — wasn’t able to give myself as many chances as I would like,” Maguire explained.
“Had a few key up and downs to keep me in it. Frustrating to bogey the last, but it was a nice birdie on 15, bounceback on 17.
“Overall, level par still keeps me in business heading into the weekend.
“I think you have to be really patient. I think today was a prime example of that. Yeah, just taking your pars where you get them and taking advantage of the par-5s.
“Didn’t quite take advantage of the par-5s as well as I would have liked today, but, yeah, still hit some really nice shots. Holed a few nice putts when I needed to. Yeah, still lots to play for.”
With an eagle on the 9th hole and six birdies overall, Lee sits top of the leaderboard and posted the round of the day at the Evian Resort Golf Club.
“Tee shots are really important on this course, but mine weren’t great today,” Lee admitted. “But I managed to make up for it with some solid putting.”
Lee has had recent success at the Dow Championship, having holed an eight-foot birdie putt on the first play-off hole to claim victory alongside fellow South Korean Jin Hee Im.
She continued: “I’m trying to put the last tournament behind me and focus on the present. Right now, I’m concentrating on my putter and driver, keeping my rhythm – and we’ll see where that takes me.”
The 26-year-old is enjoying her time in France, and said: “First is the view, then weather and then food – gelato my favourite. So I love it here.”
Australia’s Grace Kim sits just one shot off the lead after a solid round on Friday, carding four birdies to stay firmly in contention. Kim was among the early starters, teeing off at 7am, and she made the most of the calm morning conditions.
“It was definitely an early start, but I wanted to take advantage of the tee time,” she said. “It’s always nice to finish before midday. I knew how punishing this course can be, so I just focused on hitting fairways and greens. I kept things simple, and it paid off today.”
This afternoon, she planned to go to the gym, have some good food and take a nap somewhere.
Kim also showed off her custom manicure. “I had my nails painted – that’s a croissant,” she said. “Just thought I’d do something fun and different. Very fitting for France.”
Kim is no stranger to this golf course and has played multiple times. “I think the rookie year that I played out here I had like nine-over-par and I cried. Looking back I can definitely see now how much that learning experience is worth. Course management has definitely been a key factor this week.”
American Jennifer Kupcho carded a steady 69 on Friday to move to eight-under-par, placing herself firmly in the mix heading into the weekend at The Amundi Evian Championship.
It was a round of ups and downs, with a mix of birdies and bogeys, but the 2022 Chevron Championship winner kept her composure and made it count when it mattered.
“I think I’ve played pretty similarly in both rounds,” Kupcho said. “I maybe didn’t hit my approach shots as well today, but I recovered well and was still able to make a lot of putts.”
Confidence on the greens has been key to her strong performance so far.
“I’ve been putting well all week – just seeing the lines clearly and rolling it nicely. I think it’s a combination of confidence and familiarity. I’ve played here enough times now that I’m starting to really learn the greens, and that definitely helps.”
A total of three players sit in a tie for fourth place, all firing rounds of seven-under par, including South Africa’s Casandra Alexander, South Korea’s Hye-Jin Choi, and America’s Andrea Lee.
“It was a tough day out there and wasn’t the tidiest scorecard. I didn’t hit it the best off the tee, but I think I made something great out of not a great situation. A lot of ups and downs, and my putting has been good,” said the LET winner.
“I’m really looking forward to the weekend. Hopefully the body will be moving a bit better, and I’ll be hitting it straighter.”
The 25-year-old was also in a group with India’s Aditi Ashok. “It’s always lovely playing with Aditi [Ashok],” she said. “She can drop it in the middle of the lake, and I am pretty sure she can still make up and down from there. She’s unbelievable.”
Alexander commented how nice it’s been having her husband here, adding that his presence also helps make things a bit easier off the golf course while she’s busy.
The South African is really enjoying the Evian experience. She continued: “It’s going to be good pairings and I think it’s going to be a chaotic this weekend to be honest. Everywhere I’ve been in this city has had an Evian Championship sticker, so I’m pretty sure the whole town is heading in this weekend.”
Five players are a further shot behind on six-under par after round two. These include Ireland’s Leona Maguire, Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul, Japan’s Rio Takeda, India’s Aditi Ashok, and Australia’s Gabriela Ruffels.
World number one amateur Lottie Woad carded five birdies across her second round sitting in T12 amongst six other players, including Nelly Korda.
After 36 holes of action at Evian Resort Golf Club, 74 players made the cut which fell at two-over par.
The third round of The Amundi Evian Championship gets underway tomorrow at 8:30am local time. The leaders will go out at 10:42am.
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