World number six Suzann Pettersen fired a second round of three under par 69 in a strong breeze at the Trump Turnberry Resort in Scotland on Friday morning to lead at the halfway stage of the Ricoh Women’s British Open.
At seven under par, the 34-year-old Norwegian ended the day two strokes clear of a group of players including world number two Lydia Ko, who played in driving wind and rain in the afternoon.
“They were very tough conditions; the ball is going nowhere,” said Pettersen. “Par is a very good score today. It’s easy to be picky but overall a very solid round of golf. There is more wind and it’s coming from the south, so when you make the turn, you hit the wall on 12. I think three under today is a very good score. I feel like I delivered my part today.”
Pettersen birdied the second and third and bogeyed the sixth but recovered by picking up another stroke on the seventh. After making the turn in 34, she birdied the par-5 17th to come back in one under 35.
“I felt I was in my hundred per cent control of the ball, the flight, the spin; everything you need to do in conditions like this. So this ranks pretty high as a good round of golf,” said a relaxed Pettersen, who is looking for her third major title after starting to work with coach Butch Harmon late last year.
The 15-time tournament winner has changed her swing in a quest to become “the best I can be… better than I am now.
“I’m a lot wider. I’m much shallower, which is why I hit it a lot further. Essentially, handshake, handshake. It’s super simple.”
She and Ko both prepared by playing in windy conditions at the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open at nearby Dundonald Links at the weekend, where Pettersen finished second and Ko, looking to become the youngest major champion in history, tied for fourth place.
Ko, 18, from New Zealand, said: “It was really difficult. The wind being strong is one thing; and it was definitely a totally different direction to what it was yesterday. So the course was kind of like playing a new course. But it was so tough. The wind was really strong when we were by the water so, you know, it was hard to keep it in the short stuff. So I made a couple bogeys because of that. Probably the craziest weather I had was on Monday when I was out there in rain and wind, but it was getting pretty close when we were on 11, 12. I tried to hide behind the signs and stay away.”
Sweden’s world number 11 Anna Nordqvist had a 72 to sit at three under par with fellow Europeans Melissa Reid from England (70) and Nicole Broch Larsen from Denmark (74) in a group on one under with the first round leader Hyo-Joo Kim (78).
Reid was one of a handful of players who posted a sub-par round along with Pettersen, Teresa Lu and Maria McBride (formerly Hjorth) who completed a 66 as heavy downpours lashed the course at 8.30pm.
Reid said: “It was just pretty brutal to be honest, the back nine especially. We had a long wait on 11. Managed to make a great up‑and‑down there. Made a great up‑and‑down on 12; that was almost unreachable today. Great up‑and‑down on 13. And I knew the 14th and 17th were quite birdieable, so as long as I kept my head and were making pars ‑‑ so that was kind of our game. So, yeah, played well. This afternoon ‑‑ this morning, they just had wind; whereas we had wind and rain.
“I think playing last week at Dundonald was awesome for us, because I would say it’s twice as hard, if not three times harder than here. So we were trying shots out last week that we knew we needed this week, so that really came in handy today.
“That course is definitely tougher, and I think with the wind on the last day, it was extremely tough. It helped playing in that today because we kind of gauged distances and we wanted to play certain shots that we played last week that we tested out, so that was good.”
McBride, who was playing to make the cut after an opening 79, said: “I think it’s one of the worst rounds I’ve ever played condition’s‑wise. Probably the best I’ve ever played in my career. To shoot that score, knowing obviously that I had to shoot a good score to make the cut.
“Stayed away from the bunkers. There’s so many bunkers and you can’t do that on this course. I think that was what happened and I got a few good breaks, bounced over bunkers. Played par 5s pretty good. Started raining on the toughest holes on the course.
“Just hang in there, stay strong, and I made birdie on the two toughest holes today. Just confident all of the sudden and you really need to trust your shots out there today in this wind.
“The wind is obviously so strong right‑to‑left on 18; and pouring down, getting dark. I pulled it a little bit left and was lucky to stay out of the bunkers again. Hit a 5‑iron for a second shot and pulled it again with the wind exaggerates everything. I said, you know, make sure I get it up on the green and 2‑putt because we are going to make the cut. I just hit a great chip and it rolled in.”
Collated scores after round 2:
137 – Suzann Pettersen (NOR) 68 69
139 – So Yeon Ryu (KOR) 67 72, Jin Young Ko (KOR) 68 71, Teresa Lu (TPE) 68 71, Lydia Ko (NZL) 66 73
140 – Mika Miyazato (JPN) 68 72
141 – Minjee Lee (AUS) 69 72, Anna Nordqvist (SWE) 69 72
142 – Inbee Park (KOR) 69 73
143 – Melissa Reid (ENG) 73 70, Cristie Kerr (USA) 66 77, Christina Kim (USA) 71 72, Nicole Broch Larsen (DEN) 69 74, Hyo-Joo Kim (KOR) 65 78
144 – Yani Tseng (TPE) 72 72, Misuzu Narita (JPN) 69 75, Julieta Granada (PAR) 70 74, Sun Young Yoo (KOR) 71 73, Alison Walshe (USA) 70 74
145 – Shanshan Feng (CHN) 71 74, Amy Boulden (WAL) 71 74, Marianne Skarpnord (NOR) 71 74, Mi Hyang Lee (KOR) 70 75, Jenny Shin (KOR) 71 74, Maria Mcbride (SWE) 79 66, Jung Min Lee (KOR) 70 75, Gwladys Nocera (FRA) 70 75, Amy Yang (KOR) 69 76, Florentyna Parker (ENG) 68 77, Jennifer Song (USA) 71 74, Stacy Lewis (USA) 70 75
146 – Hannah Burke (ENG) 74 72, Maria Balikoeva (RUS) 73 73, Charley Hull (ENG) 73 73, Lexi Thompson (USA) 71 75, Azahara Munoz (ESP) 68 78, Ha-Na Jang (KOR) 71 75, Jaye Marie Green (USA) 72 74, Jane Park (USA) 72 74, Kelly Shon (USA) 70 76
147 – Tiffany Joh (USA) 72 75, Stacey Keating (AUS) 71 76, Caroline Hedwall (SWE) 73 74, Na Yeon Choi (KOR) 72 75, Candie Kung (TPE) 72 75, Luna Sobron (ESP) 70 77, Marina Alex (USA) 73 74, Angela Stanford (USA) 69 78
148 – Catriona Matthew (SCO) 71 77, Mina Harigae (USA) 72 76, Brooke Henderson (CAN) 73 75, Sandra Gal (GER) 74 74, Lizette Salas (USA) 72 76, Lee-Anne Pace (RSA) 75 73, Nanna Koerstz Madsen (DNK) 70 78, Wei Ling Hsu (TWN) 74 74, Xiyu Lin (CHN) 72 76, In Gee Chun (KOR) 72 76
149 – Nina Holleder (GER) 72 77, Danielle Kang (USA) 70 79, Carly Booth (SCO) 72 77, Sakura Yokomine (JPN) 72 77, Gerina Piller (USA) 70 79, Ashleigh Simon (RSA) 72 77, Ssu-Chia Cheng (TPE) 72 77, Alena Sharp (CAN) 72 77, Chella Choi (KOR) 72 77, Kyu-Jung Baek (KOR) 67 82, Holly Clyburn (ENG) 76 73, Brittany Lincicome (USA) 75 74, Austin Ernst (USA) 75 74, Su Oh (AUS) 77 72, Katie Burnett (USA) 68 81
Missed the cut:
150 – Kylie Walker (SCO) 74 76, Juli Inkster (USA) 70 80, Paula Creamer (USA) 71 79, Shiho Oyama (JPN) 68 82, Morgan Pressel (USA) 74 76, Jessica Korda (USA) 72 78, Sei Young Kim (KOR) 75 75, Georgia Hall (ENG) 74 76, Laura Davies (ENG) 72 78, Emily Kristine Pedersen (DNK) 73 77, Mo Martin (USA) 70 80
151 – Camilla Lennarth (SWE) 70 81, Kim Kaufman (USA) 71 80, Beth Allen (USA) 75 76, Marion Ricordeau (FRA) 76 75, Dewi Claire Schreefel (NED) 76 75, Mi Jung Hur (KOR) 73 78, Sophie Walker (ENG) 72 79, Moriya Jutanugarn (THA) 71 80, Ai Miyazato (JPN) 72 79
152 – Il Hee Lee (KOR) 76 76, Charlotte Ellis (ENG) 72 80, Celine Boutier (FRA) 76 76, Beatriz Recari (ESP) 69 83, Karine Icher (FRA) 74 78, Ursula Wikstrom (FIN) 72 80, Felicity Johnson (ENG) 72 80
153 – Jenny Suh (USA) 73 80, Eun-Hee Ji (KOR) 71 82, Kristen Gillman (USA) 74 79, Natalie Gulbis (USA) 73 80, Yumiko Yoshida (JPN) 71 82, Haru Nomura (JPN) 75 78, Hee Young Park (KOR) 74 79, Ayaka Watanabe (JPN) 72 81, Lucie Andre (FRA) 75 78
154 – Rebecca Artis (AUS) 72 82, Klara Spilkova (CZE) 69 85, Nicole Garcia (RSA) 76 78, Ariya Jutanugarn (THA) 78 76, Pornanong Phatlum (THA) 75 79, Pernilla Lindberg (SWE) 77 77
155 – Karrie Webb (AUS) 80 75, Sydnee Michaels (USA) 75 80, Rebecca Hudson (ENG) 79 76, Connie Jaffrey (SCO) 76 79
156 – Minea Blomqvist (FIN) 72 84, Vikki Laing (SCO) 74 82, Jade Schaeffer (FRA) 75 81, Stephanie Meadow (NIR) 74 82, Ritsuko Ryu (JPN) 73 83, Alison Lee (USA) 73 83, Kelly Tan (MYS) 73 83
157 – Jacqui Concolino (USA) 78 79, Mariajo Uribe (COL) 74 83, Carlota Ciganda (ESP) 74 83, Sally Watson (SCO) 80 77, Linnea Strom (SWE) 75 82, Caroline Masson (GER) 79 78, Pamela Pretswell (SCO) 76 81
158 – Brittany Lang (USA) 76 82, Meena Lee (KOR) 76 82
159 – Isabelle Boineau (FRA) 78 81
160 – Min Seo Kwak (KOR) 78 82
161 – Paula Reto (RSA) 79 82, Sarah Kemp (AUS) 79 82
162 – Titiya Plucksataporn (THA) 77 85
170 – Chiara Mertens (GER) 82 88
RTD – Anne-Lise Caudal, Patcharajutar Kongkraphan, Michelle Wie
