Minjee and Hannah adamant medal hopes remain alive
Minjee Lee is confident that she is capable of the low round needed to reignite her medal hopes after she fought to maintain touch with the leaders at the halfway point in the Women’s Golf competition at Le Golf National.
Lee is in a tie for 22nd at 1-over through two rounds, trailing Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux (66, 8-under) by nine strokes.
China’s Ruoning Yin delivered the low round of day two with a 7-under 65 to climb into outright second at 7-under with two-time Olympic medallist Lydia Ko of New Zealand (66) two shots further back in third position at 5-under.
After finishing in a flurry on day one, it was a disastrous start for Lee in Round 2.
She made bogey after missing the green with her approach shot at the first hole and then double-bogey at the par-3 second, her tee shot clearing the water only to spin back and trickle in.
She bounced back with a birdie at the par-5 third, made bogey at the par-4 fifth and then after a run of 12 straight pars closed out a round of 2-over 74 with birdie at the par-5 18th.
Despite sitting outside the top 20 at the halfway mark of the competition, Lee remains confident that she can make her move over the final two rounds.
“There’s definitely a low round,” said Lee.
“You just have to pick your moments. When you have short clubs in, you just take advantage.
“Today obviously I didn’t, but I definitely think there’s a score out there.”
It’s a sentiment shared by fellow Aussie Hannah Green.
Two late birdies at holes 16 and 18 saw Green rise to a tie for 29th through two rounds, turning a day that felt stuck in neutral into one she hopes can move her into top gear over the final two days.
“Maybe gold is out of reach but obviously we’re still trying to get a podium finish,” said Green, who will start Round 3 eight shots back of third place after a round of 2-under 70 on Thursday.
“There are some players on the leaderboard that haven’t had that type of pressure, and everyone, no matter how experienced or how many wins on tour they have had, are going to feel that pressure.
“Even though I might be well out of it, there’s still a possibility. I’m not completely out of it.”
The demanding test that is Le Golf National was on full display on Thursday, bringing a volatility and unpredictability to the leaderboard.
Leading by three after Round 1, Frenchwoman Celine Boutier fell back into a tie for sixth with a round of 4-over 76 while world No.1 Nelly Korda of America charged into second spot only to drop five shots in the space of two holes late in her round of 2-under 70.
There are birdies to be had, but disaster lurks at almost every turn.
“There’s a lot of water out there, so a lot of the pins, you can’t really go for them,” Lee explained.
“Then you miss it a little bit and you’re in the rough or you’re in the bunker where you’re short-sided.
“It’s just a really great test of golf, and the greens are quite tough to read,” she said. “That’s the type of championship and the type of venue you want to play if you want to win a medal.”
Green tees off in Round 3 at 6:44am AEST on Friday with Lee to follow three groups later at 7:17pm AEST