Lucy Li remains at the top of the leaderboard after 36 holes of the Twin Bridges Championship at Pinehaven Country Club. The California native shot 3-under par on the day, bringing her tournament total to minus 8. Throughout the round, Li had a consistent crowd following her, which she says is both encouraging and a nice change of pace.
“It’s nice to see all of the people out this week supporting,” said Li. “We don’t see that that often.”
Li carded five birdies during the second round, including two consecutives on Nos. 5 and 6. Her success is partly due to her pre-shot routine and mindset on the course. Rather than overthink each shot, Li checks her yardage book for confirmation, takes two practice swings and lets it rip.
“I think it’s just really important to not spend too much time over the ball,” said Li. “I step up and hit it.”
Being a familiar name at the top of the leaderboard this season allows Li to stick to her regular routine, instead of letting the nerves get to her.
“I like to go home and stretch,” said Li. “I’ll watch some TV and Facetime my brother if he’s not busy.”
In second, three strokes behind Li, is Linnea Strom. The Finn shot the lowest round of the day at 5-under 66, for a tournament total of minus 5. Strom went bogey-free, carding three birdies and a lone eagle on No. 12. After hitting a good drive and leaving her second shot short of the green, Strom chipped in to finish out the par 5.
“I had a pretty short chip, so I saw it go in,” said Strom. “Sometimes before you come up to a shot, you just get a feeling that you’re going to hole it and that was one of those shots, so it was fun.”
Strom is happy with her position heading into the final round and is ready for a comeback.
“It’s kind of nice not to go out in the lead and come a little bit from behind,” said Strom. The course is pretty tricky but it’s also pretty scoreable if you do hit some good shots and have good putting.”
In solo third, four shots behind Li, is Nishtha Madan. Madan is 4-under par for the tournament after recording four birdies on the day to sign for a 2-under 69. Seeing her name near the top of the leaderboard came as a surprise but won’t affect her approach in the final round.
“Honestly, I wasn’t really expecting it [to be in the top 3],” said Madan. “Nothing really changes, I’m just going to go out and play my game, focus on myself, and whatever happens, happens.”
Rounding out the top 5, tied for fourth, are Maggie Ashmore, Grace Kim and Milagros Chaves. A total of 61 players made the cut at +6.
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