In the morning at Carnoustie, the weaker winds and partly sunny skies left a course ripe for the taking. A 66 from Megan Khang became the low round of the morning wave and of the major championship thus far, but as gusts increased on the links, the afternoon fared more troubling. Overnight leaders like Nelly Korda finished over-par on the day (-4 overall and three shots out of the lead). But Moriya Jutanugarn breezed through the challenges Carnoustie offered, posting the lowest round of the later hours with a 5-under 67 and sits in a tie for fifth.
Competing in her ninth AIG Women’s Open, the score ties her lowest at the event, last recorded during the first round of the 2019 competition at Woburn.
“For me, the key is just like hit it fairway and greens, and you know, try to give yourself a good chance for birdie, if you can. I think Carnoustie is like really, it's been tough out there. Even in the nice day like today, but you just always have to kind of stay on top and like be alert all the time and also just be patient out there,” said Jutanugarn, who only made one bogey to six birdies on Friday.
Jutanugarn won for the first time since 2018 alongside sister Ariya at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational where two four-ball 59s helped build the 26-year-old’s confidence as she prepared for the rest of the 2021 season.
“It's just something I've been working on all the time every week, and just, you know, keep doing it,” said Jutanugarn. “It's about like, you know, attitude on the golf course, really, and especially on this golf course, you just have to be really good attitude out there and like just, you know, like keep moving on, like if you hit one bad shot, just keep move on and hit another shot.”
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