Huge thunderstorms lashed the Hamptons overnight but luckily we woke up to clear skies for round 2 of the US Women’s Open at Sebonack Golf Club. It was quite breezy from early on and the players faced much tougher conditions than on day one. I arrived at the course mid-morning and did lots of group hopping to try and catch some of the players I missed on day one. I watched the likes of 2012 ISPS Handa Women&aposs Australian Open champion Jessica Korda who had a solid round of 1-under par on Friday to see her move up the leaderboard into equal 5th place. Jiyai Shin and Cristie Kerr who were playing alongside each other but doing it tough, and I.K Kim who was on fire to shoot 3-under par for the day in very difficult conditions. She was the leader in the clubhouse after the morning round at 7-under par. By lunchtime the wind had picked up and the afternoon players were in for a challenge. I watched Karrie s first four holes which started a little rough. After narrowly missing the green with her approach shot, she chipped to about 6 foot and just missed her putt. It turned out to be an up and down front nine with 3 bogeys and 3 birdies which was good considering the conditions. Inbee Park continued to fire. Despite missing some short putts, she holed a number of long putts including an impressive one from off the green on the 6th hole to maintain her lead. By late afternoon the wind had died down but a misty sea haze had descended over Sebonack Golf Club and visibility was at about 150 to 200 metres. Play was slow and it was obvious that there was no way the final groups would be finishing tonight. After Inbee s group played their tee shots on the 18th hole, the siren was sounded and play was suspended. They decided to finish the hole despite not being able to see their target however this didn t seem to faze Inbee who still managed to birdie the 18th to finish at 4-under par today and 9-under par for the tournament, two shots in front of I K Kim. About 14 groups were still on course when play was suspended so they ll be back bright and early tomorrow morning to finish their rounds. The cut of 60 players plus ties will then be made with play for the third round commencing mid-morning. Currently the cut is looking like 6-over par which sees 3 Aussies Lindsay Wright, Karrie Webb and Sarah-Jane Smith safely make it through. Stacey Keating was sitting at 10-over par with 5 holes to play when the round was suspended. Katherine Hull-Kirk finished at 9-under par to unfortunately miss out on the weekend.
Author: Emily Miller / Golf Australia