Morgan Pressel tied the course record at Aviara Golf Club on Friday with an 8-under 64 to climb into a share of the second-round lead with South Korea’s Mirim Lee (69). The duo sit at 10-under par and one shot clear of 16-time winner Cristie Kerr (68) and rookie Alison Lee (66). Four players are two shots back at 8-under par including last week’s winner Hyo Joo Kim, American Brittany Lang, Spain’s Maria Hernandez, Sakura Yokomine of Japan.
World No. 1 Lydia Ko is in a tie for eighth alongside with No. 3 Stacy Lewis and three shots back at 7-under par. No. 2 Inbee Park is within striking distance at 6-under par.
“It was definitely stress free,” said Pressel. “I hit almost every fairway, and I think I hit 16 or 17 greens and just had a chance for birdie on almost every hole…I just hit it where I wanted to hit it today. It’s been a while since I’ve kind of been confident knowing where the golf ball would go, and so it was nice to kind of swing freely out there today and have the result that I did.”
The score also tied her career-low round which she has previously shot on four separate occasions, most recently in 2013 in the final round of the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic. Pressel’s last victory came nearly seven years ago at the 2008 Kapalua LPGA Classic.
First-round leader Mirim Lee followed up her round of 65 yesterday with a 3-under 69 on Friday. It marks the second time in her career that she will hold the 36-hole lead. The last time was at the 2014 JTBC Founders Cup where she finished in a tie for second.
Course Record For Pressel
Morgan Pressel knew she needed to make some changes early on in the year and dug up an old number to call for a bit of swing help before the west coast swing.
“I was kind of on my own for a little bit in terms of my swing and just trying to work through things by myself, and then I called my long time coach Ron Stockton back into the mix, and I really like what we’ve been working on,” said Pressel. “I knew where I needed to get the club, but I was having a lot of trouble actually getting it there, so a couple of hard days with him followed by the week last week and trying to take it out on the golf course kind of helped put it into play for this week.”
The work has seemed to pay off since Pressel has not played well to start off the 2015 season. Her best finish is a tie for 33rd at the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic. But things came together including a stellar putting day on Friday. Her round of 64 tied the course record set by Dori Carter in the second round last year.
Pressel had 27 putts in both her first and second round and ranks tie for third in putts her greens in regulation in the field through two rounds. She sank a 50-foot birdie putt on 18 on Friday and added three more of about 20 feet.
“The greens are difficult. They’re tough to read, and then they’re bumpy, especially later in the day,” said Pressel. “That kind of puts it all in perspective as to how difficult the greens are out here. But early I made a couple really long putts, and you kind of feel like you’re stealing them when they go in. So that was nice, and then later on, I mean I was hitting it close, too, so I gave myself a lot of opportunities, and certainly some of them went in, and that was nice. I had one that was like a kick in, so that was nice, too.”
Leaderboard
| Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | To Par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morgan Pressel | 70 | 64 | - | - | -10 |
| Mirim Lee | 65 | 69 | - | - | -10 |
| Alison Lee | 69 | 66 | - | - | -9 |
| Cristie Kerr | 67 | 68 | - | - | -9 |
| 4 players tied at -8 | |||||
The Streak Continues
Lydia Ko followed up her opening round 67 with a second round 70 and extended her consecutive rounds under par. streak to 26 straight. Her goal coming into the year was to play more consistent and she has done just that. She doesn’t follow records closely but if she ends up breaking some, she will be pleased.
“I don’t know all the records and all the details on that, but yeah, you know, like I always say, I’m going to try and have fun, and if I play good golf and kind of broke some records, great.”
Ko’s last non-sub par round was when she was even par in the final round of the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in November, 2014.
Key Numbers to Know
8 – Consecutive weeks at the top of the Rolex Rankings for Lydia Ko
26 – Consecutive rounds under par for Lydia Ko after Rd. 2 at the Kia Classic
64 – Morgan Pressel tied the Aviara Golf Club course record, originally set by Dori Carter in the second round of the 2014 Kia Classic
School's Out
Alison Lee tied the course record at Wildfire Golf Club at the Founders Cup in Phoenix last week with a 63 in the third round and came up just two shots shy of the record this week at Aviara on Friday. Her round of 66 in the second round jumped her up the leaderboard from T17 to T3.
“I’m just in tune with my swing right now,” said Lee. “I think I’m striking the ball really well. That’s been my key for the past couple weeks. I haven’t missed very much greens, and I’ve been getting the yardages right and hitting it pretty good and I feel really confident when I’m over the ball for my approach shot.”
Lee has had more time to concentrate on just golf as she just finished her semester as a full-time student at UCLA last week. She was taking final exams and finishing papers on the road during the event in Phoenix. She said she’ll take a hiatus from school work for the next semester and that her decision to leave was one of the toughest she has made. But her good play recently has reaffirmed her decision to go pro.
“Yeah, for sure. I mean, before I played Q school I was really nervous,” said Lee. “I didn’t know if I was making the right decision. Obviously I played really well in college, but still, it’s a different game out here, and I didn’t know if I was ready for it. I don’t know how I would do out here, but obviously playing well and making cuts and playing rounds like this today really it feels great. It reassures everything I’ve been working towards and kind of shows me that I can compete with a lot of the girls out here.”
Final Push For ANA Inspiration
A handful of players put themselves in good position for the weekend to make a final run at a spot in the year’s first major, the ANA Inspiration. The final criteria for players to get into the field is top 20-players who aren’t already qualified and are currently in the top 80 on the Official Money List at the conclusion of the Kia Classic. As of right now Wei Ling Hsu is the last player in the field per the criteria and ranks 76th ($20,160) on the Money List through the JTBC Founders Cup.
Here are five players to keep an eye on over the next two days who have a good shot at earning a spot in the desert next week based on their play in Carlsbad.
| Pos. on Money List | Player | Money Won | Pos. After 2 Rds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 85 | Katie Burnett | $15,523 | T12 |
| 90 | Maria Hernandez | $13,536 | T5 |
| 91 | Brooke Pancake | $12,384 | T26 |
| 96 | Laetitia Beck | $10,314 | T26 |
| 101 | Candie Kung | $8,817 | T26 |
Rolex Rankings Projections
Scenarios this week at the Kia Classic for a change in the Rolex Rankings No. 1 spot:
Ko retains No. 1 if:- She finishes in a three-way tie for second or better even if Park wins.
- Park finishes in a tie for second or worse regardless of what Lydia does.
- Park wins AND Ko finishes in a four-way tie for second or worse.
- Ko misses the cut AND Park finishes in solo second or better.
No. 3 Stacy Lewis cannot go to No. 1 regardless of what happens this week but she can move up to No. 2 if she wins and Park finishes in third or worse.
Quotable
“I’ve graduated to big girl golf now. I can line myself up. It’s pretty good. It’s one of those things I wanted to take ownership of. I choose a club, I pick my shot, I pick my target. We still definitely talk about it a lot, but I can trust myself. I did it in junior golf and I did it in amateur golf. There’s no reason why I can’t do it out here. Every once in a while there’s a confidence thing where if there’s a tough tee shot I’ll have him just check me out, but no, I can do it on my own. “
– Paula Creamer on the philosophy behind her caddie Colin no longer lining her up.
Airtimes This Week
Golf Channel will broadcast all the action at the Kia Classic with airtimes listed below. All times listed are Eastern.
They will broadcast each day this weekend from 6:00-9:00pm ET.
Notables
- The cut was made with 75 players making the cut which fell at 1-under 143. Notables who missed the cut were Gerina Piller and Suzann Pettersen.
- Katherine Kirk had a hole-in-one using a pitching wedge, 93 yards, on hole 3 today.
- Seon Hwa Lee and Hee Kyung Seo both withdrew prior to the second round of the Kia Classic due to illness
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