In individual play, first round leader Rose Zhang, -4, of Stanford entered the second round with a one-shot lead and finished the day four ahead. She made the turn at 2-over par, before pulling back to even with consecutive birdies at 10 and 11. Zhang then picked up two more birdies on 17, 18 to finish at -2 for the day, -6 for the championship.
“Just starting the round was quite difficult,” Zhang said. “I was 2 over through three holes and it definitely put things into perspective for me where I had to stay as present as possible and just try to grind. But I would say on the back nine I just stayed as patient as possible. I was just waiting for putts to drop. I was waiting for shots to be hit closer to the hole. I was trying to get my right yardage. So it was very much an up and down round but that’s what this course kind of gives you.”
Starting the second round at +1, Virginia’s Beth Lillie made the turn at 4-under par for the day. She gave two back on 10 and 12 before birdying the par-5 final 18th hole to finish 36 holes at -2, tied for second place overall, four strokes off the pace.
Tied with Lillie in second place, Megan Schofill of Auburn followed her first round 72 with a 2-under 70 in the second. She birdied the first hole of the day, No. 10, made the turn at -2, and shot even par on her back nine.
Tze-Han Lin of Oregon, who also started the day even par for the tournament, took two steps back on the front nine and three forward on the back to earn a share of fourth place at -1 alongside Anna Morgan, playing for Furman as an individual.
She made bogey on the first hole and then buried it under four birdies over six holes, 4-9, to make the turn at 3-under par, one off the pace at the time set by Zhang. Morgan then ran into a rough patch midway through the back nine, before making one last birdie at 17 to finish at -1.
Six players finished the second round tied for sixth place at even par: Bohyun Park, Texas; Candice Mahe, Georgia; Ingrid Lindblad, LSU; Chiara Tamburlini, Ole Miss; and Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen, Oregon.
What a difference a day made for ASU’s Ashley Menne. She rebounded from a first round 6-over 78 with a second round 4-under 68, moving up to T16, a 77-spot jump.
“Everything just felt better today,” said Menne. “My driver and putting was good. Our team also played great. We had good energy throughout the entire round.”
In the team game, No. 1 ranked Stanford, +5, finished 36-holes four shots clear of second-ranked Oregon at +9. Auburn and UCLA settled into a tie for third place at +10.
