Practising barefoot helped Brittany Lincicome to shoot a six-under-par 65 and take a one stroke lead after the second round of the Evian Championship.
The 28-year-old from Seminole in Florida told reporters how taking her shoes off on the range helped to slow down her swing and improve her drives.
“It just slows it down, my tempo. Obviously I can’t swing as hard as I would like to with no shoes on because I will fall,” said Lincicome, who won her sole Major at the 2009 Kraft Nabisco Championship and lost to Inbee Park in a play-off at last month’s Wegman’s LPGA Championship where she was also leading after 36 holes. “Today I just thought I would just take them off and hit some balls and see what happens. Actually did it yesterday. After my round I went to the range and hit balls for 15, 20 minutes.”
Six shots off the lead after an opening round of four-under-par 67, Lincicome fired six birdies at the Evian Resort Golf Club on a warm and sunny afternoon to end the day 10-under-par, a stroke ahead of first round leader Hyo-Joo Kim, who added a one-over 72 to her opening 61.
“I think just the confidence. Even when I felt like I didn’t hit a good shot today I kind of got away with it. Golf isn’t always a game of perfect and hitting great shots. It’s more about misses,” Lincicome said. “My misses today were right online and gave me birdie opportunities or got me in the fairway.”
Kim, 19, started with three bogeys on the back nine but made three birdies and one bogey on the front. Through translation, she said that she wanted to ‘erase’ the first day’s score to start afresh and admitted to feeling the pressure.
Fellow South Korean Mi Jung Hur was third on seven-under-par after a 69, followed by the defending champion Suzann Pettersen (69) and Karrie Webb (71) a shot further behind in a share of fourth.
The world’s first and third ranked players, Stacy Lewis and Lydia Ko respectively, shared sixth place with Thailand’s Moriya Jutanugarn on five-under-par, with Sweden’s Anna Nordqvist and South Korean IK Kim among the players on four-under.
Of the other notable Ladies European Tour competitors, the Italian Open champion Florentyna Parker was lying in a share of 32nd on one-over-par alongside Caroline Hedwall, Beatriz Recari and Jodi Ewart Shadoff, among others. Charley Hull, the Lalla Meryem Cup champion, was in a group on two-over with last week’s Helsingborg Open winner Dewi-Claire Schreefel. Sandra Gal was on three-over-par, with Dame Laura Davies and Lee-Anne Pace on four-over-par.
Earlier in the second round, So Yeon Ryu was disqualified as she had damaged her putter on the fourth hole by slamming it against her shoe and bending the shaft of the club, thus changing its’ playing characteristics. The 2011 US Women’s Open champion, who won the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open last month, subsequently used the club to tap in her ball, which was a violation of rule 4-3b: using a club that was damaged other than in the normal course of play.
Collated scores after round 2:
132 – Brittany Lincicome (USA) 67 65
133 – Hyo-Joo Kim (KOR) 61 72
135 – Mi Jung Hur (KOR) 66 69
136 – Suzann Pettersen (NOR) 67 69, Karrie Webb (AUS) 65 71
137 – Lydia Ko (NZL) 69 68, Stacy Lewis (USA) 70 67, Moriya Jutanugarn (THA) 69 68
138 – Mariajo Uribe (COL) 68 70, Anna Nordqvist (SWE) 71 67, I.K. Kim (KOR) 69 69, Amy Yang (KOR) 68 70
139 – Minjee Lee (AUS) 72 67
140 – Julieta Granada (PAR) 68 72, Lexi Thompson (USA) 70 70, Mina Harigae (USA) 69 71, Shanshan Feng (CHN) 70 70, Paula Creamer (USA) 69 71
141 – Ha-Na Jang (KOR) 70 71, Kris Tamulis (USA) 70 71, Inbee Park (KOR) 69 72, Mika Miyazato (JPN) 69 72, Karine Icher (FRA) 68 73, Mi Hyang Lee (KOR) 72 69, Katherine Kirk (AUS) 71 70
142 – Na Yeon Choi (KOR) 70 72, Ayako Uehara (JPN) 69 73, Line Vedel (DEN) 70 72, Sakura Yokomine (JPN) 71 71, Hee Young Park (KOR) 72 70, Azahara Munoz (ESP) 70 72
143 – Emily Kristine Pedersen (DNK) 69 74, Caroline Hedwall (SWE) 70 73, Il Hee Lee (KOR) 69 74, Celine Boutier (FRA) 71 72, Florentyna Parker (ENG) 71 72, Candie Kung (TPE) 69 74, Beatriz Recari (ESP) 72 71
144 – Se Ri Pak (KOR) 69 75, Jodi Ewart Shadoff (ENG) 72 72, Sun Young Yoo (KOR) 76 68, Meena Lee (KOR) 71 73, Lizette Salas (USA) 69 75, Gerina Piller (USA) 71 73, Charley Hull (ENG) 71 73, Ji Young Oh (KOR) 73 71, Dewi Claire Schreefel (NED) 68 76, Jennifer Song (USA) 71 73
145 – Marina Alex (USA) 71 74, Cristie Kerr (USA) 71 74, Sandra Gal (GER) 72 73
146 – Morgan Pressel (USA) 70 76, Jing Yan (CHN) 71 75, Laura Davies (ENG) 70 76, Eun-Hee Ji (KOR) 75 71, Sarah-Jane Smith (AUS) 68 78, Jane Park (USA) 74 72, Christina Kim (USA) 71 75, Amelia Lewis (USA) 70 76, Lee-Anne Pace (RSA) 73 73, Juli Inkster (USA) 69 77
147 – Mirim Lee (KOR) 71 76, Kristy Mcpherson (USA) 70 77, Jessica Korda (USA) 72 75, Sydnee Michaels (USA) 71 76, Sarah Kemp (AUS) 71 76, In Gee Chun (KOR) 69 78, Laura Diaz (USA) 75 72, Pernilla Lindberg (SWE) 73 74, Jaye Marie Green (USA) 69 78
Missed the cut:
148 – Kim Kaufman (USA) 76 72, Amy Anderson (USA) 70 78, Angela Stanford (USA) 76 72, Jennifer Johnson (USA) 77 71, Valentine Derrey (FRA) 74 74, Tiffany Joh (USA) 72 76
149 – Haeji Kang (KOR) 76 73, Cheyenne Woods (USA) 77 72, Julie Greciet (FRA) 73 76, Gwladys Nocera (FRA) 72 77
150 – Pornanong Phatlum (THA) 73 77, Joanna Klatten (FRA) 72 78, Patcharajutar Kongkraphan (THA) 76 74
151 – Kelly Tan (MYS) 78 73, Kylie Walker (SCO) 75 76, Jenny Shin (KOR) 75 76, Lindsey Wright (AUS) 71 80, Catriona Matthew (SCO) 75 76, Carlota Ciganda (ESP) 77 74, Ai Miyazato (JPN) 74 77
152 – Kristen Gillman (USA) 74 78, Yani Tseng (TPE) 76 76, Belen Mozo (ESP) 75 77, Jennifer Rosales (PHL) 77 75, Trish Johnson (ENG) 72 80, Alison Walshe (USA) 78 74, Alejandra Llaneza (MEX) 77 75
153 – Dori Carter (USA) 74 79, Camilla Lennarth (SWE) 75 78, Xi Yu Lin (CHN) 75 78, Jee Young Lee (KOR) 76 77, Brooke Pancake (USA) 75 78, Nikki Campbell (AUS) 75 78, Caroline Afonso (FRA) 78 75
154 – Thidapa Suwannapura (THA) 71 83, Haru Nomura (JPN) 75 79, Caroline Masson (GER) 77 77, Brittany Lang (USA) 71 83
155 – Austin Ernst (USA) 76 79, Christel Boeljon (NED) 75 80, Chella Choi (KOR) 77 78, Katie Burnett (USA) 77 78
156 – Danielle Kang (USA) 79 77, Giulia Sergas (ITA) 77 79
157 – Ashleigh Simon (RSA) 75 82
158 – Alena Sharp (CAN) 78 80
162 – Ariane Provot (FRA) 77 85
164 – Paz Echeverria (CHL) 82 82
DQ – So Yeon Ryu (KOR)
