By Richard G. Mason

Dana Open

Highland Meadows Golf Club | Sylvania, Ohio | July 13-16, 2023

Second-Round Notes

July 14, 2023

Course Setup: 34-37 – 71; 6,469 yards

Scoring Average: R1: 70.170, R2: 70.909

Weather: Mostly sunny skies give way to cloud coverage with a slight chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon hours; highs reaching into the mid-80s with West-Southwest winds around 5-10 mph

Race to CME Globe Points: 500 (winner)

Purse: $1.75 million (Winner’s portion: $262,500)

TV/Streaming Times: How to Watch

ANNIE PARK ROCKETS UP THE LEADERBOARD AFTER DAY TWO AT THE DANA OPEN

Annie Park finished her opening round 3-under 68, her best first round in her 12 starts so far this season by two strokes on Thursday in Sylvania. To top that feat, she went on to record eight birdies, including five-straight from holes 18, 1, 2, 3 and 4 closing out her second round at the Dana Open with an 8-under 63 and sole possession of first place at -11. Teeing it up first on No. 10, it took her three holes to record her first birdie on 13 before the flood gates opened, with Park carding birdies on seven of the next 14 holes to close out her bogey-free round.

“Yeah, I think 18 I recovered well for my second shot,” Park said about her five-straight birdies. “I kind of pulled it to the left. I hit an amazing third shot. I had a solid putt for birdie. 1, I hit a really good approach shot into the pin, had like about a foot or two. Hit a really good shot. 3, I hit an amazing, a solid 7-iron. And hit a really another good putt. And then on 4 I kind of just leaked it a little bit to the right, just off the fairway, and was trying to hit this punch/cut around the tree and kind of got lucky there. So just clipped the branch just a touch and had another two, three foot putt. So, yeah, overall I hit some really good shots out there and some really good putts. Just trying to remember the good shots.”

For the first time in her career, Park holds the lead after 36 holes at a Tour event, but close behind are Allisen Corpuz and yesterday’s co-leaders Linn Grant and Jaravee Boonchant all sitting at -9. Boonchant carded four birdies in nine holes to start, before three bogeys came on her back nine. It was thanks to her final birdie of the day on the par-5 17th, this week’s Aon Risk Reward Hole, that landed her tied for second. Grant looked primed to reclaim her spot atop of the leaderboard opening her round with three birdies on the first six holes, but two bogeys to close out her first nine holes on Nos. 7 and 9 and another birdie on 15 places her two back from leader Park. U.S. Women’s Open champion Corpuz recorded her second bogey-free round adding five birdies in her second round to get her to 9-under.

“Yeah, I think, honestly, the fatigue has kind of helped with the nerves a bit,” Corpuz said about how she’s been able to maintain this level of success back-to-back weeks. “But, no, going out there, just focusing on doing the same thing. Try and hit good shots. Yeah, just one shot at a time.”

Eight players find themselves tied for fifth at 8-under 134: Jeongeun Lee5, Lindy Duncan, Gemma Dryburgh, Maria Fassi, Matilda Castren, Linnea Strom, Ariya Jutanugarn and Emily Pedersen. Lee5 took jumped from a tie for 60th thanks to six birdies and an eagle on 17, while Duncan and Strom both posted bogey-free rounds with six and three recorded birdies, respectively. Dryburgh recorded seven birdies and two bogeys while Castren carded six birdies and three bogeys. Fassi stayed consistent after shooting another 4-under 67 with five birdies and one bogey in both her rounds, while Jutanugarn and Pedersen, who started the second day in a tie for third, will coast into contention heading into the weekend as well.

“Well, I love this golf course,” Fassi said. “It’s one of my favorite golf courses that we play. I think we have such a good game plan. I don’t think anything changes. Hopefully more birdies come and I give myself plenty of chances for those, but like I said, we just have such a good game plan that we just have to stick to it and stay patient because on a day like today I was just 1-under par with three to go and walked out of there 4-under.”

2022 Dana Open champion Gaby Lopez made her presence felt after a 6-under 65 second round to get her to T13. There were 77 players who made the cut at -1. LPGA Tour rookie Rose Zhang finished 36 holes at +1 after a 6-over 77 on Friday to lead to her first missed cut as a professional. 2008’s Dana Open champion Paula Creamer also missed the cut as did Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions winner Brooke Henderson.

A LOOK AT THE LEADER

Rolex Rankings No. 216 Annie Park (1, 131)

• Park hit 12 of 14 fairways, 14 of 18 greens with 24 putts
  • In her second round, she carded eight birdies, tied for the most among the field in the second round
  • She has recorded 14 birdies between her first two rounds, which ranks her first in the field
    • Her record for most birdies recorded overall at this event is 19, which she set in 2018
• Her 63 second round ties her career-lowest round
  • She recorded it on two other occasions, in the final rounds of the 2016 and 2018 ShopRite LPGA Classic
• Park’s 131 is a new career-low 36-hole score
  • Her previous best was 134 recorded twice before and most recently at the 2019 Meijer LPGA Classic
• This is the first time she has held the 36-hole lead/co-lead in her Tour career
• This is Park’s seventh start at the Dana Open
  • This is the first time she has started this event with both rounds in the 60s
    • This is only the third time at the Dana Open where she’s had multiple rounds in the 60s
  • Her best finish was T19 in 2019
• This is Park’s 12th start on Tour this year
  • She has missed the cut seven times, including in last week’s U.S. Women’s Open
  • This is the first time this season that Park has ended her first two rounds in the 60s
    • Before this week, she had only recorded two rounds in the 60s all year
  • Her 68 opening round was her best start at a tournament all season
• This is her eighth season on Tour
  • She became a Rolex First-Time Winner at the 2018 ShopRite LPGA Classic and has earned 10 additional top-10 finishes on Tour

THINGS TO KNOW

• Allisen Corpuz shot a 66 on Friday to sit in a tie for second at -9
  • She is the only player to go bogey-free through 36 holes at Highland Meadows
  • Her 66 is her lowest 18-hole score since her season-best 65 in the second round of the Honda LPGA Thailand
  • Her 133 is one off her career-best 36-hole score, a 130 recorded at the 2022 Pelican Women’s Championship
  • This is her second appearance at the Dana Open
    • She missed the cut in 2022
  • Only four players have ever won the U.S. Women’s Open and the tournament after, including Se Ri Pak (1998), who won the USWO and then the Dana Open
    • The last to do so was Meg Mallon, who won the CPKC Women’s Open following the U.S. Women’s Open in 2004
  • Corpuz recorded a 67 in the first round
    • Over the last five seasons, only Corpuz and In Gee Chun last year have shot a bogey-free 67 or better in their first LPGA Tour round following a major victory
• Thursday co-leader Linn Grant is tied for second after a Friday 69 (-9 overall)
  • Her 134 is a new career-low 36-hole score on Tour
    • Her previous low was 136, recorded at the 2023 HSBC Women’s World Championship
• Jaravee Boonchant followed her first-round 64 with a 2-under 69 to sit in a tie for XXX
  • Her 133 is a new career-low 36-hole score, besting her previous record (134) from the 2023 Honda LPGA Thailand
• There are eight players in a tie for fifth, including Jeongeun Lee5, Lindy Duncan, Gemma Dryburgh and Maria Fassi
  • Lee5 carded a 7-under 64, her best 18-hole score since a 64 at the 2022 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship
    • Her career-best is a 63, recorded at the 2019 Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic
    • This is her fifth event of the 2023 season; her season-best finish is a tie for 39^th at the ShopRite LPGA Classic
  • Duncan shot her third round in the 60s this season on Friday
    • 65 is her lowest 18-hole score on Tour since the second round of the 2022 Ascendant LPGA benefiting Volunteers of America (65)
    • Duncan is playing her fifth event of the 2023 season; her season-best finish is a tie for 57th at the Meijer LPGA Classic
    • This is her sixth time playing the Dana Open; her career-best finish in the event came in 2016 (23^rd)
      • She also recorded a 65 in the second round in 2016
    • This is her fourth-straight made cut; in 2022, she only made four cuts through 10 events
  • Dryburgh’s 134 is a new career-low 36-hole score on Tour
    • Her previous best was a 136, last recorded at the 2022 ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican
    • Dryburgh’s 68 on Thursday was her first round in the 60s on Tour since the first round of the Cognizant Founders Cup
    • Her 66 on Friday was her best 18-hole score since the third round of the JM Eagle LA Championship (66)
      • It’s also her lowest 18-hole score in any appearance at the Dana Open
  • Fassi’s two-consecutive 67s are her fifth and sixth round in the 60s this season in 32 recorded stroke-play rounds
    • This will be her sixth cut made in 13 events this season, and her second cut made in the last five events including the Dana Open
    • She is currently third in greens in regulation through 36 holes (31/36)
• Defending champion Gaby Lopez recorded a 6-under 66 to sit in a tie for 13th that includes two-time Dana Open champion Lydia Ko and two-time major champion Minjee Lee
  • Lopez’s 65 ties her season-best 18 hole score, last recorded in the LPGA Drive On Championship at Superstition Mountain
• 15-year-old Monday qualifier Mia Hammond recorded a second-straight 68 sit T20 heading into the weekend
  • This is her first LPGA Tour event
  • She shot a 66 to qualify for the event
• 77 players made the cut at -1, including Hye-Jin Choi, who carded two birdies in her closing holes to make the cut on the number
  • Notables to miss the cut include Brooke Henderson (+1) and Rose Zhang (+1)
    • This is Zhang’s first missed cut as a professional; she shot a 6-over 77 on Friday after a 66 on Thursday

QUOTABLE
15-year-old Monday qualifier Mia Hammond (XX, -6) on making the weekend in her first appearance in an LPGA Tour event:

“It’s so amazing. It’s honestly a dream come true. I’ve put in a lot of work over the winter and beginning of the season this year and it’s so great to see it finally pay off. I had a few rough tournaments here and there so just so relieving.”

U.S. Women’s Open champion Allisen Corpuz (T2, -9) on if her outlook on the game has changed at all since last week:

“I mean not too much. I think maybe just a lot more confidence. Just feeling really comfortable with the putter right now. Just kind of going out — and I had a really fun pairing with Lydia and Minjee. So I think it always helps to see good golf. They both played really well as well. So, yeah, it’s been good.”

Linn Grant (T2, -9) on why she enjoys Highland Meadows Golf Club:

“I feel like every hole is a birdie opportunity and I think that’s really fun. It gives you like just a clearer mind. I feel like you don’t have to hold back really. I feel like that’s sort of usually the vibe, like when you can go out and play aggressive and it’s usually really fun to play and you have a lot of opportunities. So I’m just going to stay in that mindset for tomorrow.”

NOTABLE
Annie Park Leads the Dana Open, with U.S. Women’s Open Champion Allisen Corpuz Tied for Second

Dana Open Full Leaderboard

Aditi Ashok Holes Out on Her Final Hole of the Round

Linn Grant Post-Round Interview with Golf Channel

TOURNAMENT SCORING RECORDS:

18 holes: 60, Paula Creamer (2008, R1)

36 holes: 125, Paula Creamer (2008)

54 holes: 194, Nasa Hataoka (2021)

72 holes: 261, Se Ri Pak (1998)

COURTESY LPGA TOUR COMMUNICATIONS