SARASOTA, FLORIDA, April 26, 2014 – Cindy Feng had an up-and-down second round at the Guardian Retirement Championship at Sara Bay on Saturday, but punctuated her round with a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to head into Sunday with a two-stroke lead. Feng shot a 1-under-par 71 and is now 4-under for the championship.
The cut was made at 8-over-par and 72 players will tee off in the final round.
Feng will be aiming for her second career Epson Tour win on Sunday. She won the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic earlier this year.“I just want to stay patient out there tomorrow, this is a tough course and the greens are really tough so every stroke counts and it is really easy to make a mistake,” said Feng, the Volvik Race for the Card money list leader. “The lead could slip away fast here, so I just really need to stay patient.”
Feng got off to a great start on Saturday with a birdie on the first hole. She made two bogeys on the front nine before dropping a birdie on the eighth hole to make the turn at even par for the day.
Feng started the back nine with a hiccup on ten to move back to 2-under-par. She proceeded to finish strong with a birdie on 14 and a birdie on 18 to stretch her lead to two shots.
“Today, it was a bit of a struggle, I started off good with a birdie, but I wasn’t hitting it very well so I missed a lot of greens,” said Feng, who will look to become the first two-time winner on the Epson Tour in 2014. “It was a bit of up and down, kind of like a roller coaster.”
When Feng made the 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole, her father and caddie reacted with an emphatic fist pump and cheer.
“Like I said, today was a tough day so to finish with a birdie was such a relief.”
Therese Koelbaek is in second place courtesy of back-to-back 1-under-par 71 rounds. She is 2-under for the tournament.
A cluster of five players reside three behind Feng at 1-under-par.
THERESE KOELBAEK MOVES INTO SECOND: Denmark’s Therese Koelbaek shot a 1-under-par 71 in the second round of the Guardian Retirement Championship at Sara Bay to move into solo second place with 18 holes to play.
Koelbaek made four birdies and three bogeys on the day including back-to-back birdies to end her round.
“The round was nothing magical really, I haven’t been on point with my driver, but I don’t get in too much trouble,” said Koelback, who only played in four events last year due to a back injury. “I made some birdies and then whenever I missed the greens my short game has been really good.”
She has two career top-10 finishes, but no victories on the Epson Tour.
“This is fun and what we are out here for, to see our name up on that leaderboard,” said the 26-year-old. “It’s fun for once to feel like I’m getting closer to where I should be.”
In 2013, Koelbaek had to withdraw from the Epson Classic, which was the fourth event of the year due to the back injury. She did not play from May 9th through the end of the year.
“This confirms that the work that I have put in the last half year or so after my back injury is paying off.”
So, what would a win mean?
“It would be huge. It’s like a dream to be out here and to actually win would be very good counting towards that top-10, which is my goal.”
Koelbaek’s best finish on the Epson Tour came in 2012 at the Tate & Lyle Players Championship when she finished third.
TOURNAMENT RECORD: Katie Kempter shot a tournament-record 5-under-par 67 in the second round of the Guardian Retirement Championship at Sara Bay.
Kempter got off to a slow start with a double bogey on the first hole, but rebounded with seven birdies the rest of the day. She made three consecutive birdies between the fifth and seventh holes.
“I got off to a bit of a slow start, I doubled the first and scraped it around for the next few holes and then I got it going,” said Kempter. “I made a 30-footer on five, a 12-footer on six and a six-footer on seven and that just got me going and I got in a really nice groove.”
Kempter was most pleased with how she averted trouble and recovered after a rocky start.
“It’s been a lot of work, it (double bogey) used to really bother me, I would probably get faster but instead I just slowed down my mental pace,” said Kempter, who shot a 76 in the first round. “It sounds so cliché, but I’ve really worked on one shot at a time this past winter and it has really helped.”
Kempter is in a five-way tie for third at 1-under for the weekend.
WOODS HAS BETTER DAY TWO: After a shooting a 79 in the first round, Cheyenne Woods fired a 1-under-par 71 in the second round.
“I felt like I hit the ball well today and put myself in a lot of good positions and overall I think the putting was the difference,” said Woods, who took 37 putts on Friday and 30 on Saturday. “I felt like I played really well today and it showed in my score.”
Woods had a trio of three-putts on Friday and just a pair of three-putts on Saturday. She also had five bogeys and a double bogey on Friday as opposed to just one bogey on Saturday.
“It’s a challenging course, it is very demanding, you really have to place the ball well especially on the greens,” said Woods. “The atmosphere is great, Sarasota is beautiful and I’m headed to the beach so it has been a good week so far.”Woods is ready for her first long stretch of the year on the Epson Tour.
“I have no idea what the stretch is going to be like, but I’m looking forward to it,” said Woods. “Next week in Fort Myers should be a good week, but really I’m just looking forward to playing more Epson Tour events and seeing what the season holds for me.”
BIG MOVES: Although Katie Kempter had the biggest move up the leaderboard in round two, there were a handful of other players that made significant moves.
Amy Meier went from T52 to T13 by virtue of a 3-under 69. Meier made five birdies including two on the par-3 holes. Meier is now 1-over for the tournament.
Stacey Keating, who is playing in her first career Epson Tour event, went from T36 to T8 by way of a 3-under-par 69. She made four consecutive birdies between the 14th and 17th holes. Keating stands at even-par with 18 holes to play. Keating plays on the LET and the ALPG Tour.
Taylor Collins moved from T36 to T16 with a 1-under 69. Collins is now 2-over for the event.
VOLVIK DRIVE FURTHER PERFORMANCE AWARDS: Volvik, a proud sponsor of the Epson Tour, is excited to announce the Volvik Drive Further Performance Awards.
Volvik will be awarding three gas cards after every Epson Tour event to the highest finishing players using a Volvik golf ball. The top Volvik finisher will receive a $250 gas card, the second highest finisher will receive a $150 gas card and the third highest finisher will receive a $100 gas card.
Here are the winners from the past three events.
Volvik Championship
1) Birdie Kim
2) Alice Kim
3) Jean Chua
Florida’s Natural Charity Classic
1) Jean Chua
2) Amy Eneroth
3) Alice Kim
IOA Golf Classic
1) Jean Chua
2) Amy Eneroth
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