On Friday morning, players enjoyed soft and gettable conditions for the second straight morning at Travis Pointe Country Club, host of the inaugural LPGA Volvik Championship.
First round leaders Christina Kim and Ariya Jutanugarn came from Thursday’s morning wave, but players going out in the afternoon were faced with much firmer conditions, resulting in fewer low scores. But those same players who went out in the afternoon on Thursday enjoyed the early side of the draw on Friday, and took advantage of the opportunity to climb up the leaderboard.
Marina Alex began her day at four-under par, four strokes back of first round leader Christina Kim, but quickly made up ground by making birdie on three of her first five holes. The American carded her low round of the season Friday with a five-under par, 67 to take the early 36-hole lead at nine-under par.
“Definitely a little more scoreable,” Alex said about the morning conditions. “There was barley any wind playing the front nine and the greens are a little bit softer so you can get at some of those flags. Yesterday was totally different. I mean, you're playing short, running the ball up. It's a different strategy today versus yesterday.”
Alex missed the first four cuts of the 2016 season but has since hit her stride, having not missed a weekend since the Kia Classic in March. A win this week would not only be the first for the 2013 rookie, but also mark her first top-20 finish of the year.
“You know, I don't necessarily think I was playing all that bad at the beginning of the year, I was just really rusty,” said Alex. “I've been making a ton of swing changes in the offseason and now they're starting to feel more comfortable and just kind of everything is starting to feel like it's mine and I own it, whereas at the beginning of the year I think I was just a little unsure with what I was doing and just not really fully committed to where I was and obviously now I am, so it's paying off, yeah.”
Alex posted a career best T-9 at the 2015 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship and 2014 RICOH Women’s British Open.
Brittany Lincicome continues to play some of her best golf of the season, coming off a T-8 finish at last week’s Kingsmill Championship. On Friday, Lincicome posted a five-under par, 67 to climb to seven-under par for the Tournament and in good position to make a run this weekend.
"I came into this week, the golf course sets up a little narrow on some holes so I was kind of concerned that if I wasn't driving it well, it wasn't going to go well," Lincicome told the media. "So when I got it off to good start, I was hitting some fairways, kind of getting just comfortable, and then putting this week has been just unbelievable. The last two weeks, actually. So hopefully that sticks around and the weekend will look really good."
Canada’s Brooke Henderson capitalized on the morning’s soft conditions to follow her opening round 72 with a five-under par, 67 on Friday to climb into the top-10.
“It was much softer today than it was yesterday and I think the little bit it's been raining during the night is just helping, but I think I had maybe a better feel for the course today,” Henderson told the media. “It was really good for my confidence to get a good round like that today, and like I said, I'm just really looking forward to the weekend and hopefully getting another good finish.”
After posting nine-consecutive worldwide top-10 finishes, Henderson has struggled to maintain that form, finishing outside the top-25 in her last two starts.
“I've been working pretty hard on my short game, which is kind of where I've been lacking, and I feel like this week I did a good job of preparing for these greens and just my short game in general which gives me more confidence with my long game,” Henderson said.
First round leader, Christina Kim began her day at eight-under par. She teed off just after noon and is currently Even through five holes.
Click here for scores from the second round of the LPGA Volvik Championship.
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