Evian Masters – 2nd Round

Jin Joo Hong and Diana D’Alessio are tied for the lead at -7 after two rounds at the Evian Masters. Annika Sorenstam, Jeong Jang and Brittany Lincicome are tied for third at -4 with eight other players tied for sixth at -3.

Unlike all other events, the Evian groups the leaders together starting with the second round. Five of the six players in the final two groups struggled. Jin Joo Hong was the only one of the six to break par, with her 70. Brittany Lincicome couldn’t buy a birdie until 18 and got in with 74. Kyeong Bae, Pat Hurst and Eun-Hee Ji each ordered doubles of the wrong kind and ballooned to 74, 76 and 76. Christina Kim tripled the par-3 2nd hole en route to her 75.

D'Alessio's bogeyless 68 made her the only player to break 70 each of the first two days. Japanese youngster Momoko Ueda made the big move with a 67 to -3. Annika, Juli Inkster and Natalie Gulbis also got into good position with their sub-70 rounds. My picks are in uncommonly good shape – Laura Davies is in the large tie for sixth, Jang is tied for third and Lorena Ochoa is T14 at -2. Linda Wessberg (T6 -3), a non-exempt Swedish player who competes primarily on the LET, is making a bid for her third LPGA Top 10 in nine starts this year. Nikki Garrett is T42 at +2 and the last-place finisher at Evian 2006, Stephanie Arricau, is T28 at even par. Arricau finished at +28, 44 shots behind Karrie Webb, in last year’s cut-less event.

18 of the 90 players missed the +6 cut line, including Julieta Granada. I’ve really gotten tired of typing her name in this weekly negative paragraph. Now that she’s assured of falling out of my Top 30, I suppose this will be the last time for awhile. Carin Koch, Reilley Rankin, Birdie Kim and LET money leader Trish Johnson missed the cut, too. Jee Young Lee, Stacy Prammanasudh and Meaghan Francella made the cut on the nose.