Ssu-Chia Cheng went lights-out in her second round at the Island Resort Championship, shooting 8 under on the day. The Taiwan native went bogey-free, recording eight birdies.
“I didn’t expect to be at the top of the leaderboard,” said Cheng. “We have a few short par 4s, and there’s a lot of good chances for all of these girls.”
Cheng says her driver was a big part of her second round, something that was lacking during Friday’s first round.
“I’m driving pretty good, better than yesterday,” said Cheng. “My approach shots are also pretty good. I maybe only missed one or two greens, so that’s really good, and I’m really happy about that.”
She holds a one-shot lead over first round co-leader Samantha Wagner, at -12. Cheng says a win tomorrow will positively shape the rest of her season.
“If you have a chance to win a tournament, it’s definitely going to feel good,” said Cheng. “If I win this, it will definitely give me confidence for the rest of the season.”
Wagner remains near the top of the leaderboard for the second day in a row, with a tournament total of -11. The Floridian also went bogey-free for the second day in a row to sign for a 5-under 67.
She took the safe approach to her shot on the island green, No. 15, as opposed to playing it aggressively like she did during her first round. She muttered “chicken” under her breath to let it out and move on.
“I think when pressure is up, anxiety is up,” said Wagner. “We all struggle with some form of anxiety out here. I think on the hole I called myself a chicken, I was just trying to release some steam.”
Wagner heads into the final round with good feelings but keeps her goal the same as it’s always been – to have fun with her dad.
“I’m feeling good [about tomorrow],” said Wagner. “I know I’m probably going to wake up a little nervous, but that’s just normal and it’s good. I just want to enjoy it with my dad and just keep doing what I’m doing and have fun.”
Five players are tied for third one stroke back of Cheng. Clariss Guce, Amelia Garvey, Emilee Hoffman, Moeka Nishihata and Jiwon Jeon sit at -9 heading into the final round. A total of 72 players made the cut at -2.
QUICK QUOTES
Malene Krolboll Hansen (-6, T20) on her bogey-free round:
“It feels pretty great. I didn’t think about it until the 18th hole. I had a run of birdies, probably could have had a few more, but they lipped out and that’s golf. It felt great having 18 consecutive holes of good golf on my part.”
Linnea Strom (-7, T14) on making the jump from T59 to T14:
“I played very steady yesterday as well but managed to hole some more putts today. I will have the same mindset for tomorrow, focus on my own game and hopefully make lots of birdies. It’s a fun course to play in that way, there are a lot of opportunities out there.”
Lucy Li (-8, T8) on her massive birdie putt on No. 12:
“I was just trying to two-putt. From down there, it’s really easy to three-putt if you don’t get your pace right, so I was just trying to focus on getting the right speed. I hit it and I thought the speed looked good and it kept going so I was like ‘oh that might go in.’ I was just pleasantly surprised by that.”
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