The second round of the Champions Fore Change Invitational saw a shift at the top of the leaderboard with only one player who started in the top five after round one staying in the top five. Low scores were being posted all throughout the day with every player currently in the top-5 carding a 6-under 66 or better on Moving Day. Alena Sharp was able to post the best round of the day with a bogey-free, 8-under 64 and take a one-shot lead into the final round at Taberna Country Club.
Sharp started off her day as strong as possible, rattling off four straight birdies to climb the leaderboard immediately. She made one more birdie on her 7th hole of the day before settling for eight straight pars. The 42-year-old finished up her round with three straight birdies as she looks to close out the ninth Epson Tour event of the season on Sunday.
“It started out really well with a string a birdies then it went into a string of pars and I ended it with three birdies so it was nice to get those coming in,” said Sharp. "I am really happy where I am sitting.”
Sharp is a 19-year LPGA veteran but has been unable to capture her second victory since winning the 2014 at the Visit Mesa Gateway Classic on the Epson Tour. She is happy with where she is at right now, but she knows the field is deep and they can go low. Sharp is just hoping to give herself a chance coming down the stretch on Sunday.
“I just need to continue to give myself opportunities. I’ve had a lot of putts within 20 feet so if I continue to do that and make some putts it will go down to the end,” said Sharp. “I just want to give myself a chance with nine holes to go because I know there are a lot of good players out here that can go low.”
Sharp was not even the only one in her group that was able to post one of the low rounds of the day. Roberta Liti made the turn at 6 under before finally settling down on her second nine to fire a 66 for the day. Liti recorded eight birdies and was bogey-free for 27 holes before finally dropping a shot. Heading into the final day, Liti has only had one over-par round in her last 12 rounds played. The 27-year-old is on a hot streak and will ride that great play into the final round.
“The first nine was great. I made a lot of putts, I was playing really good, and I was just very confident when I was on the green. I feel like I lost a little bit of focus coming in because sometimes when you play so well on the first nine it is hard to keep focused,” explained Liti. “I just need to keep putting myself in this spot and my week will come. I am very confident about that.”
Sharp and Liti battled back and forth all day in the second round with 16 birdies shared between the pair. The energy on day two was something both players were feeding off of and if Sunday is anything like Saturday, there will be fireworks in the final round at the Champions Fore Change Invitational.
“The past two days my group has been making a lot of birdies,” said Sharp. “I have definitely been feeding off of the energy. Roberta and I had a good match out there today so it was fun and I look forward to tomorrow.”
Joining the pair in the final grouping will be Gigi Stoll. Stoll is already a winner in the 2023 season and has seemed to find her game after a bit of a lull the last two events. The University of Arizona alumna has made seven birdies each round and is no stranger to posting low scores. She will look to join Gabriela Ruffels as the only repeat winners so far in the 2023 season.
“I really like this golf course. There is a lot of birdies out there but you just need to stay patient and play your game and then just see what happens,” said Stoll. "I feel like my game is trending in the right direction. I got my bearing last week and just felt really confident coming into this week.”
Rounding out the top five are Ruffels (-9) and a group of six players at 8 under. The leaders of the Champions Fore Change Invitational will tee off at 9:09 am.
QUICK QUOTES
Gabriela Ruffels (-9, 4th) on moving into the top 5 and the mindset heading into the final round:
“Ive had the same gameplay all week, I just need to stay super aggressive. I need to take advantage of the par 5s and just see how many birdies you can get out here. You have to expect everyone to go low tomorrow, I think it’s going to be a birdie fest tomorrow, so I definitely want to join that.”
Agathe Laisne (-8, T5) on a bogey-free 65 (-7):
“Yeah, I have been working on my game a lot and my coach is here this week working with me. I have been playing really well recently and I see this course well, which led to me going low. I have to do it again tomorrow, but I try not to think about it and just take it shot by shot.”
Laetitia Beck (-8, T5) on her game after posting making eight birdies on the day:
“I just have to continue to hit good shots. Today I was happy with my approach shots which led to me making eight birdies in total. I was a little cold with my putter yesterday but I was happy with how I putted today.”
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