Brooke Henderson finds tree-bound trouble off the tee at 2. Always out of position, she ends up making bogey. A huge disappointment on a hole that offers birdie on a plate. She drops to -3. Her playing partner Minjee Lee is on the dancefloor in two, but trundles her long eagle putt 12 feet past, and she fails to make the one coming back. She trudges off the green as well, having made a par that will feel like a bogey. She’s -5.
Another birdie chance for Nordqvist, who sends her tee shot at 6 straight at the flag. A little short, but it’s an uphill left-to-right curler from 20 feet. A chance to have a good run at it, but she leaves a very tentative effort three feet short. Par, and she remains at -6. Her playing partner Lexi Thompson has hit her tee shot pin high. In goes a lovely birdie putt from 15 feet, and she’s back to -3. Her putter works just fine from medium to long range; it’s the tiddlers that get her nerves jangling and addle the head.
But low scores are out there, and someone’s going to make a run at the leaders. It may well be Anna Nordqvist, who cards her third birdie of the day after sending a lovely approach at 5 to four feet. She’s -6, though she walks off the green with the sort of stern look most players wear when they’ve just four putted from three feet. Typical Scandi supercool.
-12: Buhai
-9: Shibuno
-8: Salas
-7: Law, Boutier, SH Park, Hull, Masson
-6: Nordqvist (5), A Jutanugarn, Hall, JY Ko, Ciganda, Kang
-5: Gillman (F), S Kim (12), M Lee (1), N Korda, Alex, Lee6
It would be fair to describe Brooke Henderson as swashbuckling. Will you take a look at this swing.
All online dictionaries should replace their definition of no-holds-barred with that clip. Marvellous devil-may-care lashing. It’d be tempting to try to copy her, out on the range, but you’d tie your spinal cord up in a pretty bow. Leave it to the experts. Anyway, the 21-year-old Canadian – who already has the 2016 PGA to her name – has had a relatively quiet year in the majors. Her first without at least a top-ten finish since she competed in the 2013 US Open as a 15-year-old. She’s probably too far behind to challenge this week, starting the day at -4, but she’s threatened to click in to top gear several times this week without ever quite finding it. Should she get there and shoot low today, you never know. She unfurls a huge drive down the 1st, then sets up a straight 15-foot birdie chance. But she doesn’t quite hit the putt, and there’s to be no super-fast start.
Last year’s runner-up Pornanong Phatlum finishes round three with at 69. Ditto the 2018 Evian champ Angela Stanford. Both are -2 going into Sunday. Back on 4, Anna Nordqvist passes up a good chance for a third birdie in a row, setting a gently breaking ten-footer too far out to the right. She remains at -5.
Back-to-back birdies for Anna Nordqvist. Shots picked up at 2 and 3 send the two-time major winning Swede up to -5. Meanwhile the reigning PGA champ Hannah Green, having just survived the cut, is flying up the leaderboard. Birdies at 8 and 14 sandwiching an eagle at the short par-four 12th. No footage of this yet, but a wild stab in the dark suggests a chip-in from the fairway. She’s -4.
Kristen Gillman finishes with three pars and signs for a 66. That’s the joint second-best round of the week, and she’s the very early clubhouse leader at -5. Meanwhile Xiyu Lin and Kim Sei-young are threatening to put together similarly impressive rounds. Both have hit the turn in 33 strokes, rising to -4. Lin has a couple of European Tour wins to her name, both at the Sanya Open back home in China, while Kim’s CV includes top-ten finishes at all the majors. Just a little too far back to covert their work into a maiden major title.
Lexi can’t take advantage of her big break. Having sent her second up the fairway on the par-five 2nd, she wedges for the pin, tucked away to the left. She takes up a massive divot, roughly half of the historic county of Buckinghamshire, as her ball sails too far left. She faces a tricky up and down from a tight lie with little green to play with. A gorgeous soft-handed stab sets her up for par from two feet … but she yips it. Her fourth bogey of the week, and she’s back to -2. This is becoming a huge mental problem for Thompson. The number of short putts she misses is off the scale. A big factor not converting her huge talent into more major championships, right there.
Up on the green, Moriya Jutanugarn strokes in a birdie putt from 12 feet and rises to -4. Yesterday’s first 11 holes, played in four over par, have proved so expensive. Meanwhile her Thai compatriot Pornanong Phatlum, who ran Georgia Hall so close last year at Lytham, is putting together a round in the free-flowing style of someone happy to have avoided the cut by the skin of their teeth. A late run of birdies, at 13, 14 and 17, have boosted last year’s runner-up to -2.
It beggars belief that Lexi Thompson just has the one major to her name. The 2014 ANA Inspiration, and that’s it so far for the super-talented 24-year-old from Florida. Going into the weekend at -3, she needs something special today if she’s to improve on her best British Open finish of a tie for eighth here at Woburn in 2016, never mind win the thing. But a birdie putt from 15 feet slips by the left on the 1st. She’ll need a bit of good fortune too, and she gets it on the par-five 2nd, hooking her tee shot towards the tall trees down the left. A massive cannon off a trunk sends her ball sailing back in the correct direction. She’s in the semi-rough. She’s got away with that big-style.
Angela Stanford finally won that elusive maiden major last year at the age of 40. The Texan was a runner-up at the 2003 US Open, tied for third at the 2011 Dinah Shore, tied for fourth at the PGA in 2004, and tied for fifth in this event in 2014. She got over the line at last year’s Evian Championship in dramatic style. Eagle at 15, double bogey at 16, birdie at 17. And even then she needed her compatriot Amy Olsen to double bogey the last and fall short of a play-off. Stanford won’t be winning major number two this week, but she’s putting together a fine round today. Birdies at 7, 12, 13 and now 17 have zipped her up the standings to -3.
The weather at Woburn is much the same as it’s been for the first two days. Lovely and calm. So it’s conducive to low scoring yet again. Kristen Gillman – on her rookie year as a pro, but already with a top-ten finish at the ANA Inspiration under her belt – is proving that already. The 21-year-old US Amateur champion is tearing it up today. Birdies at 1, 5, 6, 11, 14 and now 15. One more before she gets home, and she’ll be matching Ashleigh Buhai’s best-of-week 65. She’s -5.
Updated
Here are some of the big names who didn’t make the cut. Shanshan Feng (2012 PGA). Ryu So-yeon (2011 US Open and 2017 ANA). Karrie Webb (Career slam). Paula Creamer (2010 US Open). Catriona Matthew (2009 British Open). Inbee Park (Career slam). Pernilla Lindberg (2018 ANA). Stacy Lewis (2011 ANA and 2013 British Open). Lydia Ko (2015 Evian and 2016 ANA). And Laura Davies (two PGAs, a US Open, the du Maurier Classic when it was a major, the British Open when it wasn’t). The depth of the field illustrated, right there.
Today’s tee times … for your perusal.
8.45am Sarah Schmelzel (US), Mariajo Uribe (Col)
8.55am Angela Stanford (US), Charlotte Thomas (Eng)
9.05am Kristen Gillman (US), Pornanong Phatlum (Tha)
9.15am Felicity Johnson (Eng), Chun In-gee (Kor)
9.25am Annabel Dimmock (Eng), Linnea Strom (Swe)
9.35am Jasmine Suwannapura (Tha), Su Oh (Aus)
9.45am Angel Yin (US), Azahara Munoz (Spa)
9.55am Minami Katsu (Jpn), Anne Van Dam (Ned)
10.05am Hannah Green (Aus), Jessica Korda (US)
10.20am Brittany Altomare (US), Austin Ernst (US)
10.30am Karo Lampert (Ger), Cheyenne Knight (US)
10.40am Hur Mi-jung (Kor), Momoko Ueda (Jpn)
10.50am Ayako Uehara (Jpn), Yu Liu (Chn)
11am Mirim Lee (Kor), Yuka Yasuda -a- (Jpn)
11.10am Kim Sei-young (Kor), Annie Park (US)
11.20am Xiyu Lin (Chn), Maria Torres (Pur)
11.30am Sakura Yokomine (Jpn), Brittany Lang (US)
11.40am Teresa Lu (Tai), Gerina Piller (US)
11.55am Jodi Ewart Shadoff (Eng), Jenny Shin (Kor)
12.05pm Ally McDonald (US), Nicole Broch Larsen (Den)
12.15pm Sarah Kemp (Aus), Caroline Hedwall (Swe)
12.25pm Atthaya Thitikul -a- (Tha), Moriya Jutanugarn (Tha)
12.35pm Lexi Thompson (US), Anna Nordqvist (Swe)
12.45pm Jeongeun Lee (Kor), Jing Yan (Chn)
12.55pm Kim Hyo-joo (Kor), Megan Khang (US)
1.05pm Olivia Cowan (Ger), IK Kim (Kor)
1.15pm Pavarisa Yoktuan (Tha), Morgan Pressel (US)
1.25pm Brooke Henderson (Can), Minjee Lee (Aus)
1.40pm Marina Alex (US), Nelly Korda (US)
1.50pm Jeongeun Lee6 (Kor), Danielle Kang (US)
2pm Carlota Ciganda (Spa), Ko Jin-young (Kor)
2.10pm Georgia Hall (Eng), Ariya Jutanugarn (Tha)
2.20pm Caroline Masson (Ger), Charley Hull (Eng)
2.30pm Park Sung-hyun (Kor), Celine Boutier (Fra)
2.40pm Bronte Law (Eng), Lizette Salas (US)
2.50pm Hinako Shibuno (Jpn), Ashleigh Buhai (SA)
Preamble
Ashleigh Buhai didn’t wait around for Moving Day. The 30-year-old South African – a teenage prodigy who has taken a while to realise her potential – played the back nine in 32 strokes yesterday evening. That established a three-stroke 36-hole lead over Hinako Shibuno, the infectiously exciting young Japanese talent making her major championship debut. With the relatively short-hitting Lizette Salas in third, it’s safe to say the top of the leaderboard has a fresh, unexpected look about it.
But there are some big names lurking. The defending champion Georgia Hall for one, leading an English charge with Bronte Law and Charley Hull. The world number one Ko Jin-young and the number two Park Sung-hyun. Ariya Jutanugarn, who won this event here in 2016. The US Open champion Jeongeun Lee6. We could go on, but time’s a factor, and there’s golf to be played. Let’s get out there. It’s on!
-12: Buhai
-9: Shibuno
-8: Salas
-7: Law, Boutier, SH Park, Hull, Masson
-6: A Jutanugarn, Hall, JY Ko, Ciganda, Kang
-5: M Lee, N Korda, Alex, Lee6
-4: Yoktuan, Cowan, Henderson, Pressel, IK Kim
