CATRIONA MATTHEW JOINT THIRD AFTER TWO ROUNDS IN THAILAND
FROM THE LPGA TOUR WEBSITE
2012 Rolex Player of the Year Stacy Lewis holds a three-shot lead after two rounds of the Honda LPGA Thailand 2013.
One day after matching her career low round of 63, Lewis shot a 3-under 69 to maintain her lead for a second straight day on the Pattaya Old Course at Siam Country Club, Chonburi.
Lewis, who turned 28 last Saturday, had five birdies and two bogeys in her round today and said that things didn’t come as easy to her on this day as they did in the first round.
“It’s always hard to follow up a really good day,” Lewis said. “I thought if I could shoot 4 or 5 under that would still be a really solid day. I almost got there but it was kind of up and down. I definitely left a few out there. I didn’t hit it as good today but I made some putts on the back nine and still have a three-shot lead so I can’t complain.”
Lewis leads by three shots over Thailand native Ariya Jutanugarn. The 17-year-old is a rookie on the Ladies European Tour this season while her 18-year-old sister Moriya is a rookie on the LPGA Tour. Both of the Jutanugarns are from Bangkok and are playing in this week’s field as sponsor invites.
Ariya Jutanugarn fired the low round of the second day, a 6-under 66.
Jutanugarn certainly has an impressive resume. The 17-year-old won the Ladies European Tour Final Qualifying Stage to earn status on the Tour for this season.
She was ranked the No. 2 amateur in the world at the time of her victory. That came two weeks after her sister, Moriya, earned co-medalist honours at the LPGA’s Final Qualifying School. It’s quite an impressive pair of sisters and Ariya seemed excited to have put herself in position to contend this week in her home country.
“One can think that one can win,” Ariya Jutanugarn said. “I hope that I can win, but I don’t want to put pressure on myself. I just going to play my game. I believe if it going to be mind, it will be. I want all you guys to cheer me and other Thai players as well.”
Tip of the cap: So Yeon Ryu isn’t in the field for next week’s HSBC Women’s Champions but the 2012 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year has a very good reason for her absence. The 22-year-old is graduating from Yonsei University, which is near Seoul, South Korea, with a degree in physical education and she will be attending the graduation ceremony on Monday.
Ryu has made a strong push to make sure that she finished her degree despite making the move to the LPGA Tour from the KLPGA last year. The 2011 U.S. Women’s Open champion loved going to school and worked hard to balance her time attending classes and playing professional golf.
“That’s one of my life goals is to graduate the university and then play as a professional golfer,” Ryu said. “I’m really, really happy to graduate from my university. I already miss my college friends and my professors. Everybody was really a great supporter for me.
"All the players put a logo on their watch like a nickname but I put Yonsei which is my university name and also Eagles, which is my university symbol. So it’s all about my university. I think my university give me a lot of energy so I can’t help but miss my university.”
But Ryu may not need to use her degree anytime soon. After recording 16 top-10 finishes in her rookie season last year, Ryu is well on her way to earning her first top-10 of the 2013 season. She fired her second straight 4-under round of 68 to move into a tie for third at 8-under-par with Spain's Beatriz Recari and Scotland's Catriona Matthew (@Beany25).
The North Berwick player maintained joint third position with a 69 - two more than in the first round - for eight-under 136.
Recari has had a pair of 68s.
Of Note…The big move to the day on the leaderboard Friday belonged to American Jessica Korda, who fired a 5-under 67. Korda’s stellar round moved her from a T37 into a T9 at 4-under-par. She’s currently tied with three other players including 15-year-old amateur Lydia Ko (69-71), who finished third in Australia last week…Two-time defending champion Yani Tseng bounced back from an opening round 75 to shoot a 4-under 68 and move to 1-under-par through two rounds. Tseng is currently tied for 25th.
SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 144 (2x72)
132 Stacy Lewis (US) 63 69
135 Ariya Jutanugarn (Thailand) 69 66
136 So Yeon Ryu (South Korea) 68 68, Catriona Matthew (Scotland) 67 69, Beatriz Recari (Spain) 68 68
SELECTED SCORES
140 Lydia Ko (NZ) (amateur) 69 71 (T9)
141 Suzann Pettersen (Norway) 71 70 (T132)
143 Sandra Gal (Germany) 71 72, Azahara Munoz (Spain) 70 73 (T25)
144 Caroline Hedwall (Sweden) 69 75 (T33)
147 Jodi Ewart (England) 77 70 (T48)
2012 Rolex Player of the Year Stacy Lewis holds a three-shot lead after two rounds of the Honda LPGA Thailand 2013.
One day after matching her career low round of 63, Lewis shot a 3-under 69 to maintain her lead for a second straight day on the Pattaya Old Course at Siam Country Club, Chonburi.
Lewis, who turned 28 last Saturday, had five birdies and two bogeys in her round today and said that things didn’t come as easy to her on this day as they did in the first round.
“It’s always hard to follow up a really good day,” Lewis said. “I thought if I could shoot 4 or 5 under that would still be a really solid day. I almost got there but it was kind of up and down. I definitely left a few out there. I didn’t hit it as good today but I made some putts on the back nine and still have a three-shot lead so I can’t complain.”
Lewis leads by three shots over Thailand native Ariya Jutanugarn. The 17-year-old is a rookie on the Ladies European Tour this season while her 18-year-old sister Moriya is a rookie on the LPGA Tour. Both of the Jutanugarns are from Bangkok and are playing in this week’s field as sponsor invites.
Ariya Jutanugarn fired the low round of the second day, a 6-under 66.
Jutanugarn certainly has an impressive resume. The 17-year-old won the Ladies European Tour Final Qualifying Stage to earn status on the Tour for this season.
She was ranked the No. 2 amateur in the world at the time of her victory. That came two weeks after her sister, Moriya, earned co-medalist honours at the LPGA’s Final Qualifying School. It’s quite an impressive pair of sisters and Ariya seemed excited to have put herself in position to contend this week in her home country.
“One can think that one can win,” Ariya Jutanugarn said. “I hope that I can win, but I don’t want to put pressure on myself. I just going to play my game. I believe if it going to be mind, it will be. I want all you guys to cheer me and other Thai players as well.”
Tip of the cap: So Yeon Ryu isn’t in the field for next week’s HSBC Women’s Champions but the 2012 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year has a very good reason for her absence. The 22-year-old is graduating from Yonsei University, which is near Seoul, South Korea, with a degree in physical education and she will be attending the graduation ceremony on Monday.
Ryu has made a strong push to make sure that she finished her degree despite making the move to the LPGA Tour from the KLPGA last year. The 2011 U.S. Women’s Open champion loved going to school and worked hard to balance her time attending classes and playing professional golf.
“That’s one of my life goals is to graduate the university and then play as a professional golfer,” Ryu said. “I’m really, really happy to graduate from my university. I already miss my college friends and my professors. Everybody was really a great supporter for me.
"All the players put a logo on their watch like a nickname but I put Yonsei which is my university name and also Eagles, which is my university symbol. So it’s all about my university. I think my university give me a lot of energy so I can’t help but miss my university.”
But Ryu may not need to use her degree anytime soon. After recording 16 top-10 finishes in her rookie season last year, Ryu is well on her way to earning her first top-10 of the 2013 season. She fired her second straight 4-under round of 68 to move into a tie for third at 8-under-par with Spain's Beatriz Recari and Scotland's Catriona Matthew (@Beany25).
The North Berwick player maintained joint third position with a 69 - two more than in the first round - for eight-under 136.
Recari has had a pair of 68s.
Of Note…The big move to the day on the leaderboard Friday belonged to American Jessica Korda, who fired a 5-under 67. Korda’s stellar round moved her from a T37 into a T9 at 4-under-par. She’s currently tied with three other players including 15-year-old amateur Lydia Ko (69-71), who finished third in Australia last week…Two-time defending champion Yani Tseng bounced back from an opening round 75 to shoot a 4-under 68 and move to 1-under-par through two rounds. Tseng is currently tied for 25th.
SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 144 (2x72)
132 Stacy Lewis (US) 63 69
135 Ariya Jutanugarn (Thailand) 69 66
136 So Yeon Ryu (South Korea) 68 68, Catriona Matthew (Scotland) 67 69, Beatriz Recari (Spain) 68 68
SELECTED SCORES
140 Lydia Ko (NZ) (amateur) 69 71 (T9)
141 Suzann Pettersen (Norway) 71 70 (T132)
143 Sandra Gal (Germany) 71 72, Azahara Munoz (Spain) 70 73 (T25)
144 Caroline Hedwall (Sweden) 69 75 (T33)
147 Jodi Ewart (England) 77 70 (T48)
Labels: LPGA TOUR
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