A PAIR OF LACKLUSTRE 73s KO NORTH BERWICK PLAYER
CATRIONA MATTHEW MISSES THE
CUT DEEP IN HEART OF TEXAS
Catriona Matthew does not miss many cuts but this is one of those rare weekends where she is far away from her North Berwick home - and not playing in a tournament.
The Scot missed the cut in the North Texas LPGA Shoot-out at Las Colinas Country Club Irving by a shot or two.
She had a pair of 73s for 146, which is definitely a "missed the cut" performance. Had she been 145, she might have made it. There will be a second cut on Saturday which will remove the tail end of the field.
A total of 74 players made the cut at 144 (+2). Notable players apart from Catriona Matthew who missed the cut included Morgan Pressel (+3), Lizette Salas (+3), Se Ri Pak (+7) and 2013 North Texas LPGA Shootout runner-up Carlota Ciganda (+4). .
There will be an additional cut after Saturday’s third round to the top-50 and ties.
Three players - I.K. Kim, Lindsey Wright and Christine Song - WD prior to the second round.
Matthew started the second round well enough with birdies at the first two holes but she covered the remainder in four over par with bogeys at the third, 11th,15th, 16th and 18th. Only one birdie in that mediocre run - at the short 17th.
FROM THE LPGA TOUR WEBSITE
Meena Lee of South Korea and Caroline Masson of Germany are tied for the lead after 36 holes at 8-under par 134. The duo leads Americans Stacy Lewis and Natalie Gulbis, who are in a tie for third, by one shot.
Lee and Lewis both shot their low rounds of the season on Friday and tied the tournament record of 7-under 64. South Korean Lee, a 10-year LPGA Tour veteran, had a rollercoaster of a front nine and went nine holes before picking up her first par.
Before the turn, the Seoul native had five birdies, three bogeys and an eagle on her first hole on the par 5 10th. She said all parts of her game were clicking, especially her iron play.
“Well, a little bit because my irons were almost inside 15 feet every hole,” said Lee. “Everything, the shot was good and the putting is working, so everything is on my side on the front nine.”
It marks only the second time Lee has held the lead after 36 holes and first time since the 2008 P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship. The two-time LPGA Tour winner missed the cut in Texas a season ago.
Masson matched her first round score of 67 on Friday and leads the field at this event after 36 holes for the second consecutive year. Last season she held the solo second-round lead at 7-under 135.
“I started off well again, made some birdies, maybe didn’t play as good as yesterday, but I made some good putts and I played pretty consistent…I just have to keep doing what I’m doing, stay patient, and yeah, everything is good.”
She finished with a birdie on the par 5 18th after hitting her third shot from off the fringe with a rescue club 15 feet past the hole. She second guessed her club choice but was glad to take some good momentum into the weekend.
“Rescue, so something in between, right?” said Masson. “It was kind of a little dodgy lie and like up and down, kind of weird, and really downhill on the green. I was thinking what was the best option, maybe the rescue wasn’t the best option, but at least I had an uphill putt for birdie. Yeah, it was a good putt and it went in.”
Lewis, who will undoubtedly be the crowd favorite heading into the weekend, said improving her score by seven shots happened to come easily. She shot a first-round even-par 71. The seven birdies, no bogey round on Friday was her third bogey-free round of the season.
“I didn’t really do anything really crazy different from yesterday other than I putted a lot better, but just played really solid,” said Lewis.
“Still had a couple funky bounces out there and was able to kind of get out of the holes when I did. I don’t know, just it was easy, it was solid. I felt nice and relaxed out there, so it was a nice day.”
The former The Woodlands, Texas resident said that she came into this week ready to blow off steam after recording her sixth runner-up in her last 15 starts.
“I think I’ve had a bunch of seconds, and I think all of them I’ve shot under par in the last round,” said Lewis. “I’m not doing anything bad, it’s just all the cards are not falling my way yet. But I’m playing good golf, and I was at the gym on Monday after I flew here working out, throwing some medicine balls against the wall, and then from there it was getting right back to work.”
Gulbis shot her first round in the 60’s of the season and said that it felt great to get a solid round under her belt while she battles a left wrist injury.
“It was a good round, definitely a good round, in the wind here,” said Gulbis. “I haven’t played a lot this year, and I haven’t played very well in the events I’ve played in, so it felt really good to get a good round in the 60s and to get around making some birdies. It felt more like how I played at the end of last year, which I hadn’t seen yet this year.”
Defending champion and No. 1 Inbee Park shot a 3-under 68 on Friday and sits in a T20 after two rounds. First-round leader and No. 4 Suzann Pettersen is tied for sixth after a round of even-par 71.
One of the advantages of having a tournament in your home state is the crowd support that you get. Stacy Lewis had a special fan in the crown in her three-year-old nephew Cole Wysocki.
Cole followed Lewis for her first 9 and then for a few holes coming in and was wearing a special shirt which read: “My aunt is a better golfer than yours!”
“Well, it’s great. I mean, a three year old doesn’t get at all what I’m doing, so it’s nice to have that perspective a little bit,” Lewis said.
“I think he’s more excited that we’re going to go hit some balls right now than the fact that I made a birdie out there. But it’s fun. He’s starting to kind of understand things and understand what’s a good hole, what’s a bad hole. But it’s fun just having the family out, and it’s just made the week really relaxed.”
Meena Lee fired a tournament low round of 64 (-7) to sit at -8 for the tournament. Lee’s total was helped by a hot flatstick as she needed only 25 putts on her second round.
“My putting was really good,” Lee said. “Inside 15 feet for par, almost always made it. I had confidence with my putting today, so I made a lot of birdies.”
Lee didn’t record a par until her 10th hole of the day thanks to an interesting opening nine which saw her record five birdies, three bogeys and an eagle on hole No. 10, her first hole of the day.
“I’m happy, Lee said. “I’m happy to be done with the second round. I’m really happy. There’s two more days, so yeah, I will do my best.”
Lee, who will sleep on the 36 hole lead for the second time in her career (2008 NW Arkansas Championship), is looking to record her third victory on the LPGA Tour and her first since the 2006 Fields Open in Hawaii.
Natalie Gulbis shot a six-under 65 to sit at -7 for the tournament, one off the pace set by Lee. The 65 is Gulbis’ first round in the 60s this year and ties her lowest round in the past four seasons (2013 CME Group Titleholders, 3rd round; 2012 Kraft Nabisco Championship, 4th round).
“It was a good round, definitely a good round, in the wind here,” Gulbis said.
”I haven’t played a lot this year, and I haven’t played very well in the events I’ve played in, so it felt really good to get a good round in the 60s and to get around making some birdies.
"It felt more like how I played at the end of last year, which I hadn’t seen yet this year.”
Gulbis used eight birdies against a pair of bogeys to record her 65 to back up an opening round 70. The difference in the two days for Gulbis was the putter as she needed a mere 26 putts today after needing 32 a day ago.
“Golf is fun when you have days you’re playing well,” Gulbis said. “You hit good shots and you try to make as many birdies as you can, and I got to enjoy that today. We’ll see what happens over the weekend.” After Lydia Ko’s win and Stacy Lewis’ runner-up finish last week at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic, Suzann Pettersen got bumped down from No. 2 to No. 4 in the Rolex World Women’s Golf Rankings.
Pettersen has a chance to move out of the No. 4 spot, but needs to win this week to do so. It also depends on where Lewis finishes:
If Lewis wins or finishes in solo 2nd: Lewis goes to #2
If Pettersen wins and Lewis finishes 2nd: Lewis goes to #2 and Pettersen to #3
If Pettersen wins and Lewis finishes T2 (with one or two players): Pettersen goes to #2 and Lewis stays #3
If Pettersen wins and Lewis finishes T2 (with three or more players) or worse: Pettersen goes to #2 and Lewis to #4
“Yeah, I mean, it would be nice, but the goal is to get to No. 1,” Lewis admitted. “As long as what I’ve done every week is kind of just been chipping away at Inbee’s lead. That was the goal coming in here this week.
"If Inbee plays well there’s not much I can do about it, but it’s just to keep getting closer, keep getting closer, and then you win or win a couple, and all of a sudden you bump yourself up there.”
Jennifer Song used a six iron from 166 yards on the 4th hole on Friday for a hole-in-one, her sixth of her golf career and first on the LPGA Tour. The ace helped song get to 2-under on the day and is in a tie for 40th at even-par.
LPGA Rookie Jennifer Kirby recorded the first hole-in-one of her life at the par-3 17th. Kirby used a 6-iron from 158. “It looked good the whole way,” Kirby said. “It landed two or three feed below the hole and went right in.”
SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 142 (2x71) Players from USA unless stated
134 Meena Lee (South Korea) 70 64, Caroline Masson (Germany) 67 67
135 Stacy Lewis 71 64, Natalie Gul;bis 70 65
136 Christina Kim 67 69
137 Dewi-Claire Schreefel (Netherlands) 71 66, Julie Granada (Paraguay) 71 66, Dori Carter 67 70, Cristie Kerr 67 70, Suzann Pettersen (Norway) 66 71.
SELECTED SCORES
138 Azahara Munoz (Spain) 70 68, Felicity Johnson (England) 70 68 (T11)
139 Inbee Park (S Korea) 71 68 (T20)
140 Michelle Wie 69 72 (T28)
MISSED THE CUT
144 Karen Stupples (England) 71 73
146 Carlota Ciganda (Spain) 76 70, Catriona Matthew (Scotland) 73 73.
TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES
CLICK HERE
CUT DEEP IN HEART OF TEXAS
Catriona Matthew does not miss many cuts but this is one of those rare weekends where she is far away from her North Berwick home - and not playing in a tournament.
The Scot missed the cut in the North Texas LPGA Shoot-out at Las Colinas Country Club Irving by a shot or two.
She had a pair of 73s for 146, which is definitely a "missed the cut" performance. Had she been 145, she might have made it. There will be a second cut on Saturday which will remove the tail end of the field.
A total of 74 players made the cut at 144 (+2). Notable players apart from Catriona Matthew who missed the cut included Morgan Pressel (+3), Lizette Salas (+3), Se Ri Pak (+7) and 2013 North Texas LPGA Shootout runner-up Carlota Ciganda (+4). .
There will be an additional cut after Saturday’s third round to the top-50 and ties.
Three players - I.K. Kim, Lindsey Wright and Christine Song - WD prior to the second round.
Matthew started the second round well enough with birdies at the first two holes but she covered the remainder in four over par with bogeys at the third, 11th,15th, 16th and 18th. Only one birdie in that mediocre run - at the short 17th.
FROM THE LPGA TOUR WEBSITE
Meena Lee of South Korea and Caroline Masson of Germany are tied for the lead after 36 holes at 8-under par 134. The duo leads Americans Stacy Lewis and Natalie Gulbis, who are in a tie for third, by one shot.
Lee and Lewis both shot their low rounds of the season on Friday and tied the tournament record of 7-under 64. South Korean Lee, a 10-year LPGA Tour veteran, had a rollercoaster of a front nine and went nine holes before picking up her first par.
Before the turn, the Seoul native had five birdies, three bogeys and an eagle on her first hole on the par 5 10th. She said all parts of her game were clicking, especially her iron play.
“Well, a little bit because my irons were almost inside 15 feet every hole,” said Lee. “Everything, the shot was good and the putting is working, so everything is on my side on the front nine.”
It marks only the second time Lee has held the lead after 36 holes and first time since the 2008 P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship. The two-time LPGA Tour winner missed the cut in Texas a season ago.
Masson matched her first round score of 67 on Friday and leads the field at this event after 36 holes for the second consecutive year. Last season she held the solo second-round lead at 7-under 135.
“I started off well again, made some birdies, maybe didn’t play as good as yesterday, but I made some good putts and I played pretty consistent…I just have to keep doing what I’m doing, stay patient, and yeah, everything is good.”
She finished with a birdie on the par 5 18th after hitting her third shot from off the fringe with a rescue club 15 feet past the hole. She second guessed her club choice but was glad to take some good momentum into the weekend.
“Rescue, so something in between, right?” said Masson. “It was kind of a little dodgy lie and like up and down, kind of weird, and really downhill on the green. I was thinking what was the best option, maybe the rescue wasn’t the best option, but at least I had an uphill putt for birdie. Yeah, it was a good putt and it went in.”
Lewis, who will undoubtedly be the crowd favorite heading into the weekend, said improving her score by seven shots happened to come easily. She shot a first-round even-par 71. The seven birdies, no bogey round on Friday was her third bogey-free round of the season.
“I didn’t really do anything really crazy different from yesterday other than I putted a lot better, but just played really solid,” said Lewis.
“Still had a couple funky bounces out there and was able to kind of get out of the holes when I did. I don’t know, just it was easy, it was solid. I felt nice and relaxed out there, so it was a nice day.”
The former The Woodlands, Texas resident said that she came into this week ready to blow off steam after recording her sixth runner-up in her last 15 starts.
“I think I’ve had a bunch of seconds, and I think all of them I’ve shot under par in the last round,” said Lewis. “I’m not doing anything bad, it’s just all the cards are not falling my way yet. But I’m playing good golf, and I was at the gym on Monday after I flew here working out, throwing some medicine balls against the wall, and then from there it was getting right back to work.”
Gulbis shot her first round in the 60’s of the season and said that it felt great to get a solid round under her belt while she battles a left wrist injury.
“It was a good round, definitely a good round, in the wind here,” said Gulbis. “I haven’t played a lot this year, and I haven’t played very well in the events I’ve played in, so it felt really good to get a good round in the 60s and to get around making some birdies. It felt more like how I played at the end of last year, which I hadn’t seen yet this year.”
Defending champion and No. 1 Inbee Park shot a 3-under 68 on Friday and sits in a T20 after two rounds. First-round leader and No. 4 Suzann Pettersen is tied for sixth after a round of even-par 71.
One of the advantages of having a tournament in your home state is the crowd support that you get. Stacy Lewis had a special fan in the crown in her three-year-old nephew Cole Wysocki.
Cole followed Lewis for her first 9 and then for a few holes coming in and was wearing a special shirt which read: “My aunt is a better golfer than yours!”
“Well, it’s great. I mean, a three year old doesn’t get at all what I’m doing, so it’s nice to have that perspective a little bit,” Lewis said.
“I think he’s more excited that we’re going to go hit some balls right now than the fact that I made a birdie out there. But it’s fun. He’s starting to kind of understand things and understand what’s a good hole, what’s a bad hole. But it’s fun just having the family out, and it’s just made the week really relaxed.”
Meena Lee fired a tournament low round of 64 (-7) to sit at -8 for the tournament. Lee’s total was helped by a hot flatstick as she needed only 25 putts on her second round.
“My putting was really good,” Lee said. “Inside 15 feet for par, almost always made it. I had confidence with my putting today, so I made a lot of birdies.”
Lee didn’t record a par until her 10th hole of the day thanks to an interesting opening nine which saw her record five birdies, three bogeys and an eagle on hole No. 10, her first hole of the day.
“I’m happy, Lee said. “I’m happy to be done with the second round. I’m really happy. There’s two more days, so yeah, I will do my best.”
Lee, who will sleep on the 36 hole lead for the second time in her career (2008 NW Arkansas Championship), is looking to record her third victory on the LPGA Tour and her first since the 2006 Fields Open in Hawaii.
Natalie Gulbis shot a six-under 65 to sit at -7 for the tournament, one off the pace set by Lee. The 65 is Gulbis’ first round in the 60s this year and ties her lowest round in the past four seasons (2013 CME Group Titleholders, 3rd round; 2012 Kraft Nabisco Championship, 4th round).
“It was a good round, definitely a good round, in the wind here,” Gulbis said.
”I haven’t played a lot this year, and I haven’t played very well in the events I’ve played in, so it felt really good to get a good round in the 60s and to get around making some birdies.
"It felt more like how I played at the end of last year, which I hadn’t seen yet this year.”
Gulbis used eight birdies against a pair of bogeys to record her 65 to back up an opening round 70. The difference in the two days for Gulbis was the putter as she needed a mere 26 putts today after needing 32 a day ago.
“Golf is fun when you have days you’re playing well,” Gulbis said. “You hit good shots and you try to make as many birdies as you can, and I got to enjoy that today. We’ll see what happens over the weekend.” After Lydia Ko’s win and Stacy Lewis’ runner-up finish last week at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic, Suzann Pettersen got bumped down from No. 2 to No. 4 in the Rolex World Women’s Golf Rankings.
Pettersen has a chance to move out of the No. 4 spot, but needs to win this week to do so. It also depends on where Lewis finishes:
If Lewis wins or finishes in solo 2nd: Lewis goes to #2
If Pettersen wins and Lewis finishes 2nd: Lewis goes to #2 and Pettersen to #3
If Pettersen wins and Lewis finishes T2 (with one or two players): Pettersen goes to #2 and Lewis stays #3
If Pettersen wins and Lewis finishes T2 (with three or more players) or worse: Pettersen goes to #2 and Lewis to #4
“Yeah, I mean, it would be nice, but the goal is to get to No. 1,” Lewis admitted. “As long as what I’ve done every week is kind of just been chipping away at Inbee’s lead. That was the goal coming in here this week.
"If Inbee plays well there’s not much I can do about it, but it’s just to keep getting closer, keep getting closer, and then you win or win a couple, and all of a sudden you bump yourself up there.”
Jennifer Song used a six iron from 166 yards on the 4th hole on Friday for a hole-in-one, her sixth of her golf career and first on the LPGA Tour. The ace helped song get to 2-under on the day and is in a tie for 40th at even-par.
LPGA Rookie Jennifer Kirby recorded the first hole-in-one of her life at the par-3 17th. Kirby used a 6-iron from 158. “It looked good the whole way,” Kirby said. “It landed two or three feed below the hole and went right in.”
SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 142 (2x71) Players from USA unless stated
134 Meena Lee (South Korea) 70 64, Caroline Masson (Germany) 67 67
135 Stacy Lewis 71 64, Natalie Gul;bis 70 65
136 Christina Kim 67 69
137 Dewi-Claire Schreefel (Netherlands) 71 66, Julie Granada (Paraguay) 71 66, Dori Carter 67 70, Cristie Kerr 67 70, Suzann Pettersen (Norway) 66 71.
SELECTED SCORES
138 Azahara Munoz (Spain) 70 68, Felicity Johnson (England) 70 68 (T11)
139 Inbee Park (S Korea) 71 68 (T20)
140 Michelle Wie 69 72 (T28)
MISSED THE CUT
144 Karen Stupples (England) 71 73
146 Carlota Ciganda (Spain) 76 70, Catriona Matthew (Scotland) 73 73.
TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES
CLICK HERE
Labels: LPGA TOUR
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