Two former Epson Tour players find themselves near the top of the leaderboard after the second round of the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational. Norway’s Celine Borge and Germany’s Polly Mack fired a bogey-free, 6-under 64 in the Thursday four-ball to move to 11-under overall through the first two rounds. The pair began the day with two pars, making their first birdie on the par-5 3rd hole and grabbing another on No. 5. They made two more birdies on Nos. 7 and 9 to turn in 31, and after two pars on holes 10 and 11, Borge and Mack recorded another birdie on hole 12. The duo rounded out their day with one final birdie on the par-4, 15th and currently sit one back of the 36-hole lead.
“We both made three birdies, so that's half, but I would say Celine was definitely the more consistent out there today, making a lot of pars, especially when I messed it up a little bit,” said Mack, who earned LPGA Tour Membership for the 2023 season by finishing in the top 45 and ties at 2022 LPGA Q-Series. “It was very great out there. Very flawless.”
Her partner Borge thought the conditions at Midland Country Club were more challenging today versus yesterday, making the easier of the two formats a little tougher than expected. “I felt it was a little trickier with the wind today. It didn't blow anything yesterday. But, yeah, (four-ball) is an easier format because then you can have two chances,” said the Norwegian, who finished sixth in the 2022 Race for the Card on the Epson Tour to earn LPGA Tour status this season. “I just try to focus on every shot and do my best. Just hit it close to the pin because I know I have a playing partner that can hit it close too.”
It's been a tale of two seasons for the rookies so far this year. Borge has only missed three cuts in 12 total starts, finishing in the top 20 on three separate occasions at the LPGA Drive On Championship at Superstition Mountain (T14), LOTTE Championship presented by Hoakalei (T18) and Cognizant Founders Cup (T17). On the other hand, Mack has made just three cuts in nine starts this season, with a best finish of T38 at the LOTTE Championship.
But recent form doesn’t always matter when it comes to team play. It’s more about coming up with a solid strategy that plays to each partner’s strength, and with another day of alternate shot on deck tomorrow, the rookies feel like they have a solid plan in place that will help them build off today’s success.
“(Today) we were just making sure each other is comfortable with everything, if we wanted someone to go first on the tee box or so because of strategy, which we sometimes did,” said Mack. “I feel like it's basically focusing on the own game today and then tomorrow will be more together again. I think we did pretty well yesterday. Very consistent, and I think we'll keep that up and just help each other out. Consistency is key.”
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