She holds a two-stroke lead over Wei-Ling Hsu and Marta Silva, who are both at 4-under for the tournament.
Epson Tour winners Marissa Steen and Min Seo Kwak are tied for fourth at 3-under.The cut was made at 6-over-par and 75 players will play the rest of the weekend.
Klatten, who quit golf five-years ago to start a professional career in marketing back in Paris, France, made six birdies and just one bogey on the round. Klatten made four birdies on the front nine including back-to-back on the fifth and sixth holes.
“I just played really well from tee to green, I didn’t miss many fairways and if I missed a green it was on the fringe and I putted well,” said Klatten. “I always put myself on the right side of the hole and I almost always had uphill putts, which is the key here.”
The 29-year-old is playing in her first career Epson Tour event. She has won on the Australian Ladies Professional Golf Tour (ALPG). For the last four years, she has played on the Ladies European Tour (LET) where she has six career top-10 finishes. Last year, she finished 13th on the LET Order of Merit Record.
“I feel like I’m swinging it well, I’ve worked quite hard the last few weeks,” said the former College of Charleston golfer Klatten. “My iron game is very solid and I feel comfortable.”
Klatten has played in two LPGA Tour events in her rookie season. She missed the cut at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open and the North Texas LPGA Shootout Presented by JTBC.
After missing the second cut in Texas on the LPGA, Klatten is excited about her current position.
“It’s very nice, how could you not enjoy this, hopefully my name is going to stay up there as long as possible,” said Klatten. “You just have to play round-by-round and focus on your game and not on what the others do.”
Klatten’s uncle is the one that urged her to get back into golf. She wanted to be a journalist and her uncle said that the best way to do that was to make a name as an athlete.
“I decided to quit my internship and start playing again, it was tough the first six months; I couldn’t break 80,” said Klatten. “After about eight months of playing again, I got onto the European Tour through Q-School and this is my fourth year on the LET and I’ve had a few LPGA starts this year.”
Since her return, she has refocused completely on her golf career.
“Now, I don’t even think about the other career anymore, I’m enjoying the professional golf life so much that it’s all I care about.”
Klatten has a soft spot in her heart for the state of South Carolina after playing at College of Charleston for two years. Although she didn’t perform as well as she would have liked during her college days, she fell in love with the state and would love to pick up her first Epson Tour win in South Carolina.
“South Carolina is one of my favorite places in the world. When I won in Australia, I love Australia and it always means a lot to win in a place you love.”
GEORGIA COLLEGE STAR PLAYS WELL: Marta Silva shot a 3-under-par 69 to move to 4-under for the tournament.
The highlights of her round included a chip-in eagle on the 18th and back-to-back birdies on the fifth and sixth holes.
“I feel really good, I started with a bogey on the 11th and I was one-over for a while until I chipped-in for eagle and I went from 1-over to 1-under so I told myself to keep it going,” said Silva. “My putting was a little better today, I didn’t make many putts but I two-putted, which was what I was missing yesterday. I three-putted a couple times yesterday.”
Silva had a tremendous college career at Georgia. She won the 2011 Honda Award for golf, given annually to the top collegiate player in the country.
She also finished fourth at the 2011 NCAA championships.
DANIELA IACOBELLI IN HUNT: Daniela Iacobelli finished fifth on the Volvik Race for the Card money list in 2012 and played on the LPGA Tour in 2013. She fired a 2-under 70 in the second-round of the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic and is in contention with two rounds to play.
Iacobelli finished strong with a tap-in birdie on the 18th hole.
“Coming down the stretch, on 16 I made a 10-footer to save par and then on 17 I made a clutch 10-footer to save par and then just left the eagle putt on 18 one roll short,” said Iacobelli with a smile. “It was a little sad, but that’s alright.”
Iacobelli, who has five career top-10 finishes on the Epson Tour, is keeping her game plan simple for the weekend.
“We’re just going to keep sticking to the same game plan, I haven’t gotten into much trouble over the last two days on the course,” said Iacobelli. “The course sets up nicely to my eye and I’m used to putting on these greens, so who knows I may get lucky.”
REPEAT WINNER?: Min Seo Kwak, who won the Chico’s Patty Berg Memorial last week in Fort Myers, Florida, is in the hunt at 3-under-par. She shot a 1-under 71 on Friday.
The last player to win back-to-back events on the Epson Tour was Esther Choe, who won the Sara Bay Classic and the Riviera Nayarit Classic in 2012.Marissa Steen is also in the mix, tied for fourth at 3-under. Steen won the Guardian Retirement Championship at Sara Bay.
The Epson Tour has not seen a two-time winner in 2014.
BIG MOVES UP THE LEADERBOARD: Several players made big moves up the leaderboard on Friday at the Self Regional Healthcare Foundation Women’s Health Classic.
The biggest move belonged to Krista Puisite. She moved from T131 to T40 by virtue of a 4-under-par 68. She executed a 12-shot improvement after shooting an 8-over-par 80 in the first-round.
Wei-Ling Hsu moved from T20 after round one to a tie for second place by shooting a 4-under-par 68 on Friday. She carded four birdies and did not make a single bogey on the round.
Ulrika Van-Niekerk also had a strong day with a 2-under-par 70 to move from T20 to T6.
Media Contact
Bret Lasky, Coordinator, Epson Tour Media, bret.lasky@lpga.com, 386-679-1292
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