By Carey Van Lue

ISPS Handa World Invitational presented by Aviv Clinics

Galgorm & Castlerock Golf Club | Antrim, Northern Ireland | August 17-20, 2023

Second-Round Notes

August 18, 2023

Course Setup: Galgorm – 36-36–72; 6,448 yards; Castlerock Golf Club – 36-37–73; 6,204

Scoring Average: Galgorm – R1: 74.986, R2: 77.475; Castlerock Golf Club – R1: 74.517, R2: 76.780

Weather: Overcast skies throughout the day with low 60-degree temperatures and small, short drizzles; High winds throughout the day reaching 20-30 mph and gusts of 40 mph

Race to CME Globe Points: 500 points (winner)

Purse: $3 million; $1,500,000 for women & $1,500,000 for men (each winner’s portion is $225,000)

TV/Streaming Times: How to Watch

AMERICAN MARISSA STEEN LEADS AT ISPS HANDA WORLD INVITAIONAL

After two difficult days at Castlerock Golf Club and Galgorm, American Marissa Steen came out on top after shooting two rounds under par, the only woman in the 144 player field to do so. On Thursday, Steen shot the best score of the day out of Galgorm, a course that gave the entire field a hard time due to wet, soft conditions and overgrown rough caused by heavy rains in the area over the past few weeks. Her first-round 70 was one stroke better than 11 other players who shot -1 on that course on Thursday. Only one other, LPGA Tour rookie Alexa Pano during the second round, was able to match Steen’s score on Galgorm before all play moves there for the weekend.

“I think it was huge,” said Steen of her first round. “I told my caddie, I have a local caddie this week, and I told him after our practice round at Galgorm I think out there it’s really important to drive it well because it gets really narrow in some places off the tee and the rough is super thick. The couple holes that I hit it into the rough, it was just a guessing game on how the ball is going to come out. And with more trees the wind really swirls and it’s a lot harder to judge than out here at Castlerock.”

At Castlerock, Steen continued her solid play while benefiting from an early morning tee time. Going off the first tee at 7:30 a.m., the three-time Epson Tour champion avoided the peak of the windy conditions that would plague the link course throughout the day. In the afternoon, winds gusts reached 30 mph and stayed consistently strong into the evening. But the morning wave of players still faced the challenge with 15-20 mph winds blowing in from the sea.

“I started on the front, so my first five holes were dead into the wind. I was pretty happy to be even through that stretch. Yeah, and hung tough,” Steen explained. “Really, my main goal going into today was just to stay patient. Out here on this links course it’s just so much more exposed. That was all I was saying, was just stay patient. It’s not going to play easy for anyone.”

Even through five at Castlerock, Steen made her first birdie on the par-4 No. 6 before turning back into the wind at the turn. Steen bogeyed 11 and 13, then earned a shot back on the par-5 15th. Her final birdie and the highlight of her day came on the last hole when she sank a long birdie putt to finish -1 on the day and -3 overall, becoming a post-round leader for the first time in her LPGA Tour career.

“I would definitely say on 18, making a 50-footer,” said Steen when asked what the highlight of her day was. “I was just trying to get it close and have a tap-in par, so to see that go in was fun. Other than that it was just steady. Didn’t make a lot of birdies but hung in and never got myself into a bunch of trouble… Luckily made a long putt on the last, which I always joke will make lunch taste a little bit better.”

Esther Henseleit sits in solo second, following her even, 72 first round with a solid -2, 71 at Castlerock on Friday. Fellow German Olivia Cowan sits just behind Henseleit, tied for third at -1 with America’s Ryann O’Toole and first round co-leaders Kim Metraux and Gabriella Cowley. There were four co-leaders after the first round, including Metarux, Cowley, Ellinor Sudow and Karis Davidson. Sudow and Davidson shot +7 and +4 respectively at Galgorm on Friday.

Sixty-three players made the cut at +5 and will be moving onto Moving Day. A second cut will be made after 54 holes to the top 35 players and ties. All play will move to Galgorm on the weekend, forcing the filed to adapt to the challenges of the parkland course.

A LOOK AT THE LEADER

Rolex Rankings No. 322, Marissa Steen

• Steen hit 10 of 14 fairways and 11 of 18 greens with 28 putts during the second round
  • Steen has the least amount of bogeys in the field, with just three over two rounds
  • She is the only player to shoot two rounds under par in the 144 player field
• Her -2, 70 at Galgorm on Thursday ties the lowest score shot there this week so far
  • LPGA Tour rookie Alexa Pano also shot -2 on Friday
• This is the first time Steen has held a post-round lead or co-lead in any LPGA Tour event
• This is her second start in the ISPS Handa World Invitational since it was made a co-sanctioned event between the LPGA, LET and DP World Tour
  • She missed the cut in 2021 after shooting a -4, 69 at Massereene Golf Club and a +6, 79 at Galgorm
• This is her 11th event of the 2023 LPGA Tour season
  • Her best result this season is a T15 finish at the ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer
  • She played in one major championship this season, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, where she finished T24
• This is Steen’s ninth season on the LPGA Tour, after becoming a rookie in 2015
  • She has three top-10 finishes in her Tour career
    • In 2021 she finished T10 at the AIG Women’s Open
    • Her best finishes are T8 results at the 2021 Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio and the 2019 ISPS Handa Australian Open
  • Steen is a three-time Epson Tour champion
    • She finished first on the Epson Tour’s Race for the Card after three wins in 2014, earning LPGA Tour Membership for 2015

THINGS TO KNOW

• Esther Henseleit is in solo second after 36-holes
  • The German shot two rounds of par or better, one of just five players to do so
  • She shot even par at Galgorm on Thursday and -2 at Castlerock on Friday
  • She has made eight birdies, four bogeys and one double bogey over two rounds
  • Henseleit has five top-20 finishes in 15 starts on the LPGA Tour this season
• Sixty-three players made the cut at +5
  • It is the highest cut of the season in a non-major championship
  • This ties the second-highest cut of the 2023 season along with the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship
    • The highest cut of the year was +6 at the U.S. Women’s Open
  • The cut was made to the top-60 players and ties
  • There will be a second cut after the third round made to the top 35 players and ties
• KPMG Performance Insights:
  • There were no rounds in the 60s during the second round
    • This is the first round all season on the LPGA Tour where there was not a single round in the 60s
  • Through two rounds, Galgorm has played a whopping 4.24 strokes over par on average, yielding birdie or better just 12.3 percent of the time
  • Castlerock has been no cakewalk, with players posting red numbers just 15.3 percent of the time
    • Castlerock has player +2.63 strokes over par in two rounds
  • There were only four rounds in the 60s during round one, the fewest in any opening round this season on LPGA Tour
  • During the first round, Galgorm Castle played more than a shot tougher than Castlerock in relation to par
    • The average to par at Galgorm was +2.99 on Thursday compared to +1.52 at Castlerock
• The four Irish/Northern Irish women in the field are a combined +35 after two rounds
  • Stephanie Meadow is +2 overall, the best of the four players
  • Leona Maguire was even after the first round but shot +3 at Galgorm on Friday
  • Sponsor invite Jessica Ross finished +11
  • The LET’s Olivia Mehaffey finished +19
• All three sponsor invites missed the cut
  • Ayaka Sugihara shot 75 and 85 in the first a second round to finish +15
  • Ross went 76, 80 in round one and two
  • Mehaffey missed the cut after rounds of 81 and 83
  • Bel Wardle withdrew from the field before the first round, putting in Sara Kjellker from the LET
• Galgrom (par 72) again played harder than Castlerock Golf Club (par 73) with a scoring average of 77.475 versus 76.780
  • On Thursday, Galgorm had a scoring average of 74.986 to Castlerock’s 74.517 scoring average
• The par-4 No. 10 again played as the hardest hole at Castlerock Golf Club
  • The hole had a 4.855 scoring average during round one (R1: 4.625)
  • Only three birdies were made there on both Thursday and Friday (6 total)
  • There were 41 bogeys or worse on No. 10 during the first round and 46 during the second round
• At Galgorm, the hardest hole during the second round was the par-4 No. 11
  • The scoring average there was 4.667
  • Only one birdie was made there on Friday and 40 bogeys or worse
  • The par-4 No. 8 played the hardest on Thursday with a 4.535 scoring average
• The par-5 17th played the easiest again at Castlerock with a scoring average of 4.449
  • There were 39 birdies or better on that hole on Friday
  • Seven eagles and 40 birdies were made there on Thursday with a 4.278 scoring average
• The easiest hole at Galgorm was the par-5 No. 9 with a 5.014 scoring average
  • There were 18 birdies there on Friday
  • On Thursday, both the par-5 Nos. 9 and 10 played easiest with a scoring average of 4.606
• Tiffany Chan withdrew from the field during the second round, citing injury
• Tereza Melecka and Chiara Noja withdrew from the field during the first round, both citing medical reasons

QUOTABLE
“I feel like I’ve put some good weeks together so far. My game feels really close. I was bummed to not make the AIG last week, but I had some good time to just work on my golf game. It feels good to see that paying off this week as well. I feel like my game has been pretty solid. Maybe not put it all together at exactly the right time, but, yeah, things feel good.” –Marissa Steen on her 2023 season on the LPGA Tour

“Yeah, I played nicely out there. Grinded it through. It was tough at times, but, yeah, just tried to keep level head and carry on, and, yeah, did well…. I mean, every week is great to finish off strong and it’s important, so I’m just happy that I’m playing good golf and that I’m in contention. Just going to try and continue that.” – Olivia Cowan on her performance so far this week

“I hit it into like a pot bunker twice today; made bogey both times. So I guess that’s the medicine you have to take on a links golf course. Other than that, I played really solid… I’m really confident at the moment on the golf course. I’m rolling some putts in, so that’s nice to see. And, yeah, I feel good. Yesterday was good as well. Just one little bad shot that cost me coming in. Yeah, really solid both days.” – Esther Henseleit on her confidence after putting together two solid rounds in difficult conditions

NOTABLE

Second Round Highlights | ISPS Handa World Invitational

First Round Highlights | 2023 ISPS Handa World Invitational

Steen’s Stats at the ISPS Handa World Invitational

Marissa Steen Makes Way To Top Of Leaderboard Through Two Rounds In Northern Ireland

Four Players Tied At The Top After Day One Of The ISPS Handa World Invitational

Ryann O’Toole First Round Interview | 2023 ISPS Handa World Invitational

TOURNAMENT SCORING RECORDS (since becoming an LPGA/LET co-sanctioned event in 2021)*

18 holes: 63, Maja Stark (fourth round, 2022)

36 holes: 132, Emma Talley (2021)

54 holes: 205, Pajaree Annanarukarn, Jennifer Kupcho & Emma Talley (2021)

72 holes: 271 (-20), Maja Stark (2022)

*Course records set at Galgorm and Massereene Golf Club

COURTESY LPGA TOUR COMMUNICATIONS