Two and a half hours before her tee time this morning, Lauren Stephenson received a call. Her caddy was sick, and she needed a replacement.
Throwing her fifth different caddy this season on the bag this morning, it could’ve easily rattled Stephenson in her second major start as a member. Instead, she relied on what she’s learned so far this season.
“I feel like the more comfortable I am out here, the better I play. Every week has led me to now. I feel comfortable, I’m not nervous,” Stephenson explained.
Stephenson has held steady in her recent results until last week, when she had her second-best finish of the season at T16 at the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give.
“Last week I found something in my swing, I just started hitting it really good. I wasn’t working on anything. I feel like I got a lot of confidence last week in my ball striking and my putting.”
Her opening round in Grand Rapids, she found 17 of 18 greens in regulation. She ended up finding 58 for the week, which has carried over to Hazeltine National. She found 15 in her first round here, and 13 today to her (-4) round.
“It feels good to know on a course like this that I can trust my long irons.”
She has an opportunity to pay off a strong moving day round with her second top 10 of the year, with her first start of her LPGA Career a T8 at the ISPS Handa Vic Open.
It’ll help her fulfill her biggest goal of securing her LPGA Tour card for next season. Outside of that, Stephenson’s trying to soak in her rookie season.
“I’m just trying to have fun and enjoy it, not take things too seriously.”
Stephenson sits at (-3) for the tournament heading into the final round.
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