The second round of The Amundi Evian Championship was suspended due to dangerous weather conditions on Friday, with players evacuated from the golf course due to storms in the area at 4:23 p.m. local time. The second round was then officially called for the day at 6:09 p.m. local time, and resumed at 7:29 a.m. on Saturday.
After the Saturday morning resumption, Ayaka Furue leads the field at 12-under and is two shots clear of her closest competitors. Furue made par on each of her five holes coming in on Saturday morning and finished with a second consecutive 65. She is now bogey-free through her first 36 holes of competition, the first player at the Amundi Evian Championship to open the first two rounds bogey-free since So Yeon Ryu in 2016.
“I was a little bit lucky because a few holes before the delay my shots were not that good,” said Furue in regard to her 13 holes played yesterday. “Like my tee shot was not that good, so I could just be fresh and then come back here today, this morning. So that was good.”
Stephanie Kyriacou and Patty Tavatanakit sit at -10 in a tie for second. Kyriacou shot a second-straight 66 to card the lowest 36-hole score of her Tour career. After an opening bogey on the first hole on Friday, Kyriacou carded five birdies in her next eight holes to sit 9-under with the back nine to go. She resumed on Saturday with a hole and a half to play, and was able to close with a birdie on the par-5 18th after eight pars to keep close to the lead.
“I was kind of -- well, I was pretty nervous on the first hole and I think that kind of got the better of me,” said Kyriacou after the completion of the second round. “Then my caddie just kind of reassured me that like everything is going to be fine. It's only day two. You're not going to win. Not going to win today either. So just stay patient and then everything kind of flowed. Good shots, hit good putts, and made a good score.”
Tavatanakit’s 3-under 68 made it her first time opening with two rounds in the 60s at a major since last year’s Amundi Evian Championship. In her first 15 holes on Friday, Tavatanakit posted a bogey on the first, but made it back with a birdie on her first par-5 opportunity, No. 7. After two pars, the Thai native posted two birdies off the turn before a double bogey on No. 12. She rebounded with another birdie on 14, and on Saturday morning, with three holes to play, made birdie on her two closing holes to finish strong.
“I started off really slow. Feel like I just kept telling myself to stay patient and hung in there which I did,” said Tavatanakit about her second round. “And ended up like I hit it -- I hit my irons good all day, I meant all round, ever since like the front nine. Just putts were lipping out. I think I had five, six lip-outs this round, which is -- it's a good sign. I take that into positive. Always so grateful for those opportunities to look forward to the next shot and keep executing, and hopefully putts will go in and they did on the back nine.”
Hye Jin Choi sits in solo fourth at 9-under, with Ingrid Lindblad – the former No. 1 ranked amateur playing in her first LPGA Tour event as a professional – recording a 1-under 70 by Saturday morning to sit in fifth at 8-under.
Prior to the suspension of play, the morning wave was able to complete round two and several players made jumps into the top-10 with their second-round scores. With a second-round 63, LPGA Tour rookie Yu Jin Sung started Friday in a tie for 75th and is tied for sixth with Lauren Coughlin, Gemma Dryburgh and Mi Hyang Lee. Sung recorded an eagle, seven birdies and one bogey during her second round to sign for the lowest 18-hole of her young career. She is just the third player in Amundi Evian Championship major history to shoot a 63 or lower in the second round (Jeongeun Lee6 shot a 61 and Ariya Jutanugarn a 63 in 2021). She looks to continue her solid play to earn her second consecutive top-10 finish following her T8 at the Dow Championship alongside playing partner Mao Saigo.
“I think the course is pretty familiar to courses I’ve played in Korea,” said Sung. “It’s a bit tougher here than in Korea, but there are many similarities so I think Korean players may have an advantage in attacking the pins. Even if you hit it well, the ball tends to bounce out quite a bit so it’s important to keep your mental game in and focus when that happens.”
Six players round off the top 10 at 6-under including 2019 Amundi Evian champion Jin Young Ko and 2018 AIG Women’s Open champion Georgia Hall. Angela Stanford, in her 103rd major championship start since the 2000 U.S. Women’s Open, is tied for 16th. Defending champion Celine Boutier and 2022 champion Brooke Henderson are also among the group at 5-under.
There were 67 players to make the cut at even, including Rolex Rankings No. 1 Nelly Korda, who shot 69-72 (-1) to make her first weekend since her win at the Mizuho Americas Open. Korda’s U.S. Olympic teammate Lilia Vu also made the cut on the number, as well as Frenchwoman Perrine Delacour, who went birdie-double bogey-birdie-birdie in her last four holes to make her second-ever cut in the Amundi Evian Championship in fifth appearance. Rachel Kuehn, a week removed from winning the Arnold Palmer Cup for the U.S., was the only amateur to make the cut, and is T35 at 2-under.
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