The second round of the Inova Mission Inn Resort and Club Championship has concluded as the field is cut to the top-69 players. El Campeón has been a tough test for the field of 144, with only 27 players currently in the red numbers after 36 holes. The course has yet to yield any super low scores, but a few players have been able to figure out the layout over the first two days.
Roberta Liti started her day five-shots off the lead, but a barrage of birdies on her front nine resulted in a 32 (-4) and moved her right into contention. Liti had seven birdies on her day with five of them coming in her first nine holes.
“I got off to a good start and made a couple birdies early on. Those birdies gave me some really good momentum for the rest of the round,” said Liti. “I was able to play well and make some putts. I managed to stay in the present and take it one hole at a time.”
The back nine for the 27-year-old didn’t have the fireworks that the front nine had with the wind starting to pick up as the day wore on, but two birdies on her closing holes was all she needed to move into the solo lead.
“This morning was a little bit easier, but the wind picked back up over the last four or five holes,” said Liti. “I just made the most of the opportunities that I had out there.”
Liti will take her one-shot lead into the last 18 holes looking to claim her first every victory on the Epson Tour.
Jiwon Jeon followed up the round of the day on day one with a rollercoaster of a first nine holes on day two. Jeon would only make two pars in her first eight holes that included three birdies and three bogeys. She would then go on to finish her round with 10 straight pars to card an even par 73 for her second-round. With 18 holes left to play, Jeon currently sits at -7 for the tournament.
“I started off pretty well making some birdies early but ended up making three straight bogeys on some tough holes. I tried to be patient even with the bogeys," said Jeon. "Then I made a long birdie putt on No. 8 and then everything kind of clicked after that going into the back nine."
Lindy Duncan rounds out the top-3 after a bogey-free 67 (-6) jumped her up 29 spots on moving day. Duncan has only made two appearances on the Epson Tour this year. The 32-year-old has dual status on the LPGA Tour and Epson Tour for the 2023 season. Duncan has had some status on the LPGA Tour since 2013 and has the game to make a run at the lead tomorrow.
"It was a great round. Anytime you are bogey-free on a tricky course it gives you a lot of confidence," said Duncan. "I got off to a little of a shaky start, but I made a really good par early in my round and that really helped me out a lot. Then I just caught fire on my last nine holes after I got a feel for the greens."
There are currently 13 players within five-shots of the lead heading into the final round on Sunday. Cydney Clanton (-5) and group of three players at -4 will round out the top-5 at the Inova Mission Inn Resort and Club Championship.
QUICK QUOTES
Pinyada Kuvanun (-4, T5) on her gameplan heading into a successful moving day:
“I just tried to tell myself to have confidence today and to play confident today. I was trying to commit with my putts and just let it roll. I think putting here is the most important and if I’m not making putts, I need to remind myself to play simple”
Auston Kim (-1, T19) on a -6 round that moved her up 88 spots:
“After playing yesterday I had a bit of a disaster on No.8 and I lost a lot of strokes there. I was able to regroup today and hit a lot better shots. I was just giving myself good opportunities and was able to finally convert. So overall I just had a really good day. Heading into tomorrow it’s just going to be fairways and greens and giving myself more opportunities.”
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