Lauren Walsh made a positive move on day two of the final stage of LPGA Q-Series as she looks to keep her card hopes alive in Alabama.
Walsh responded to a difficult start with a second round of 70 to climb to one-over-par and into a share of 50th place.
The Castlewarden woman is now back in touch with the qualifying spots. She trails leader Helen Briem by ten shots but crucially she is just three shots outside the top-25 and ties which would secure LPGA Tour cards for next year.
Briem carded a 2-under 69 on the Falls Course at Magnolia Grove – RTJ Golf Trail. Briem started off strong with a birdie on her fourth hole, the par-3 13th, followed by back-to-back birdies on the par-4 15th and 16th holes. The German found her first blemish of the tournament with a bogey on 17, but bounced right back with a birdie on 18 to round out her front nine at 3-under par.
“Obviously, it was way tougher than yesterday, especially the last nine holes, cause it was really wet,” Briem explained. “Sometimes, you had to go like 10 meters to the side on the fairway because it was temporary water. So that was kind of difficult because you had some shots where it was really wet. But I mean, it’s the same for everyone, and I think I did fine.”
Briem, who finished ninth in the LET Order of Merit this season, continued her groove, sinking a long birdie putt on the par-3 2nd hole. The 20-year-old struggled in her final stretch, finding a bogey and double bogey on the fifth and ninth holes, respectively, to ultimately sign for a 69 and post a 9-under 36-hole total, finding herself with a one-shot lead heading into Moving Day.
“I could have done better,” said Briem, “but that double on the last hole was a bit unnecessary, but overall, I’m happy with minus two today.”
Former Duke University All-American Ana Belac cleaned up her golf game this morning, posting a bogey-free 66 to climb the leaderboard into a tie for second place. The LPGA veteran, familiar with the LPGA Q-Series, stuck to her game plan during round two, finding her first birdie of the day on hole two at the Crossings Course. Belac then alternated pars and birdies on her front nine, picking up birdies on holes four and six to round the turn bogey-free and at 3-under par.
“It was just a really steady day. I hit a lot of fairways and greens. My putter finally heated up,” said Belac. “I struggled a little bit on the greens yesterday, so I had a good session after the round just to gain some confidence and to figure out what wasn’t working with my putting. So I was glad I was able to figure that out yesterday, and then today came with a little bit more confidence in the greens. I was able to capitalize on some of the shots that I hit. Made a lot of those 15-footers that you want to make.”
The Slovenian continued her consistent play on her closing nine, finding a birdie on the par-4 10th, followed by two more on holes 15 and 16, to sign for a blemish-free 66 and head into round three in a tie for second with Dongeun Lee.
Belac said about her current golf game, “I wish the season got started over right now, but hopefully, I can finish this week strong and then get it back on the LPGA next year.”
Dongeun Lee had an even-keel second round, carding birdies on holes four and seven on the Falls Course. Lee continued her under-par play, draining her third birdie on the par-3 13th hole, followed by another birdie on 17. Although the Korean bogeyed the par-5 18th hole, she still signed for a solid 3-under in unforgiving weather conditions.
Perrine Delacour, Camille Boyd and Leah John are in a tie for fourth at 7-under total through 36 holes. Delacour made a statement with a 5-under 67 to climb 17 spots on the leaderboard and is ready for a stellar third round on Sunday.
Boyd drained a birdie putt on her last hole, the par-4 9th, to sign for a 4-under 68, and John struggled, but focused hard in her last stretch to make back-to-back birdies to finish at 1-over.
Scoring HERE
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