LPGA Volvik Championship – Friday

Marina Alex, who is at -9 and tied for second after the second round.
Marina Alex, who is at -9 and tied for second after the second round.

Leading the Volvik Championship after two rounds, Ariua Jutanugarn now is halfway to her third consecutive win. Jutanugarn won the Kingsmill Championship and Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic earlier this month.

If Jutanugarn holds on, she will be the first on the LPGA Tour to win three in a row since Inbee Park in 2013. Given all the things that can go wrong in a golf tournament, I find it astonishing that anyone could win three in a row.

Jutanugarn has a two shot lead at the LPGA Volvik Championship over the trio of So Yeon Ryu, Christina Kim and Marina Alex. She says that she is not thinking about a third straight win:

“Right now I’m really happy with it and I really enjoy plaingy golf right now, so I’m not thinking about I’m going to win, I’m going to lose, but just have fun and keep playing good.”

Christina Kim on her round: “I’ve been playing really well the last couple of months and just not been able to really capitalize in terms of scores save yesterday,” Kim said. “But I putted like doo doo today, so just trying to stay patient and eventually they’re going to fall in.”

Kim’s comment reminded me of what course Architect Bill Newcomb said about Travis Pointe.: that it “gives a comfortable look off the tee, but is challenging on the green.”

Interestingly, Jutanugarn played the round without a driver. She actually has no intention of using one this week.

Jennifer Song plays out of the concession area near the eighteenth green.
Jennifer Song plays out of the concession area near the eighteenth green.

On a local note, Jennifer Song, an Ann Arbor native, made the cut at the LPGA Volvik Championship following a bogey-free second round of 66.

“I knew there could be some low numbers but I just wanted to play free and have fun out here today because I didn’t want to miss the weekend here being the hometown girl. I’m really happy I made the cut,” Song said.

Song, who sat in a tie for 90th entering the day, currently sits in a tie for 18th and will look to improve on that during the weekend.

“Tomorrow’s moving day so I’m sure a lot of girls will be aggressive with their lines, but I just want to take one day at a time, one shot at a time and just see how things go,” Song said. “I just want to have fun out here.”

Play will begin tomorrow at 7:25 a.m. off the first tee with the leaders going off at 1:55 p.m.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Discover more from GolfBlogger Golf Blog

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading