ROHANNA STORMS UP LEADERBOARD
Rachel Rohanna (Waynesburg, Pa.) moved into the top 10 on Friday with a 5-under, 67 to get to 6-under, 138 through two days.
Rohanna made five birdies and no bogeys.
“I hit the ball a lot better than I did yesterday,” said Rohanna, who carded a 1-under, 71 on Thursday. “I gave myself some good opportunities and took advantage. Finally, a sub-70 round.”
It was her second round in the 60’s this season and first since a 68 at the Gateway Classic at Longbow Golf Club (March 30).
“This is one of our biggest purses of the year so I’m glad this round showed up today,” said Rohanna, who finished 10th on the money list in 2015. “This course has never treated me well so I’m glad to get a good round.”
Rohanna finished T57 in Greenwood the last time she played here in 2015. She did not post an under-par round that week.
Rohanna seeked out 15-year-old sponsor exemption Lauren Freyvogel, another Pennsylvania native, early in the week and was impressed.
“It is neat to see a 15-year-old whether they are from Pennsylvania or Korea, it is just amazing,” said Rohanna. “She was awesome and you can definitely tell she was nervous, but who wouldn’t be. I think she will be a very good junior player.”
Rohanna hopes that a big week will lead to a return to the LPGA.
“To have a year out there (LPGA) and learn all the courses is definitely helpful,” said Rohanna. “The biggest thing I learned on the LPGA is that when you get tired, you have to take a break.”
Rohanna tried to play seven straight weeks on the LPGA last year.
MORENA POSTS BOGEY-FREE 65
Paola Moreno (Cali, Colombia) tied the low round of the tournament with a 7-under, 65 to go from T47 to a tie for fifth.
“I was hitting the ball really well, even yesterday, but I didn’t make any putts,” said Moreno, who was 2-over heading into Friday. “I played pretty well and even the misses weren’t bad so I was able to recover.”
Moreno knew coming into the round that she needed to play well in order to stay inside the cut line. She did much more than that.
“I stayed positive and made some really good putts,” said Moreno, who has three career wins on the Epson Tour. “I had birdie chances on one, two, three and four and finally I made my first birdie of the tournament on five and after that I relaxed myself a little bit.”
OF NOTE
- Co-first round leader Augusta James posted a 2-under, 70 to get to 6-under. She is T3 and will go for her second career win this weekend.
- There were 12 scores of 68 or better on Friday.
- No. 1 (Benyapa Niphatsophon), No. 6 (Liv Cheng), No. 7 (Hyemin Kim) and No. 9 (Lindsey Weaver) on the Volvik Race for the Card money list missed the cut.