PETTERSEN MOVES INTO CONTENTION ON RAINY DAY IN OCALA
Suzann Pettersen checked the forecast in advance of play Thursday and figured at some point the storms were going to roll in and play would have to be suspended. She was just hoping it’d be after she finished off an impressive round in which she was 5-under-par for the day through 17 holes when the horn blew.
“I was a bit surprised,” Pettersen said. “We were kind of trying to count how many dry holes we got in. We didn’t really see the suspension of play, but I guess it was just in time.”
At one point during her round Thursday, Pettersen posted five birdies in six holes and joked that it really should have been six with one birdie putt just hanging on the edge. She’s at 4-under-par for the tournament, three shots back of Ko and Jang.
Pettersen made the switch to Butch Harmon in advance of last season and saw it pay off with a win in June, and she’s starting to see the swing her and Harmon have crafted taking hold. Therefore, there were minimal changes in the off-season, instead they were focused on getting out on the course to play.
“Pretty much all the same. I mean, that’s Butch. Old school. Which for me is very hard, because I want to make it more complicated and he keeps telling me, ‘Just go play some golf!’” Pettersen said. “I’m like I don’t do it that way. I got to think about some stuff.”
With the swing solved, though, Pettersen’s major focus in the off-season has been lowering the scores on the card without tinkering with her swing.
“For me, in that manner it’s quite challenging for me,” Pettersen said. “I’ve been working a lot on my putting and been putting good these two days, so that’s nice to see. Like I said, just nice to go out there and hit shots under the gun.”
JAPAN’S HARU NOMURA POSTS 6-UNDER BEFORE RAIN
One of 22 players to complete the second round, Haru Nomura posted a 6-under round of 66 to climb from a tie for 38th into a tie for third.
“The putting is good and irons good. Like basically everything was pretty good feeling,” Nomura said.
Nomura, who finished tied for 13th in the season opening Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic last week credits some of her success to a new hobby she picked up in the off season.
“I started surfing because I live in Hawaii. I enjoy so much surfing.”
PROGRAMMING UPDATE
Golf Channel’s airtimes will remain the same tomorrow (airing in primetime, 8-10 p.m. ET). GolfChannel.com and Golf Live Extra will live stream coverage tomorrow now from 4-6 p.m. ET (originally was 3-5 p.m. ET).
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