Coming into the week at 101st in the Race to the CME Globe, Spaniard Azahara Munoz was looking to play her way inside the top 100, guaranteeing her status for the 2024 LPGA Tour season. And so far, she’s well on her way to doing just that, carding rounds of 70 and 66 to sit in a tie for fourth with 36 holes to play at Qizhong Garden Golf Club. The 35-year-old #LPGAMom started strong on Thursday at the Buick LPGA Shanghai, going bogey-free and recording two birdies to post a 70 and sit in a tie for 18th.
The Spaniard turned up the gas on day two, making three birdies in her first six holes and grabbing three birdies on the back nine, including a chip-in birdie on the par-4 18th hole, to post her second consecutive bogey-free round, this time a 6-under 66. It’s the first time since the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G that Munoz has opened with two under-par rounds, and it’s also the first time she has opened with a 36-hole total of 136 or better since the 2022 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G.
With rainy conditions plaguing the field on Friday, Munoz managed to take advantage of the soft conditions. Not only did she card back-to-back rounds in the 60s for the first time since the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship last season, but she tied the lowest round of the week with her 66, also recorded by Ariya Jutanugarn, Wichanee Meechai and Maja Stark.
“It was definitely raining, but fortunately, it didn't get to be too bad, so it was never super uncomfortable, but it was definitely there. It made greens a bit softer, so I feel like we could be more aggressive,” said Munoz, who hit 13 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens on day two. “First hole, I made a nice up and down, and I actually almost chipped in. Ever since then, I started hitting it really good. On 2, hit it super close; didn't make it. On 3, hit it really close; made it. On 4, the same thing. After that, I just kept trotting along and never got myself in trouble and just made a few more birdies.”
This year marks Munoz’s first full season competing on the LPGA Tour since she stepped away at the end of 2021 to have her first child, Lucas. She returned to competitive golf last year, squeezing in four tournaments before the end of 2022, and this week in Shanghai marks her 18th start of the 2023 season. In her 17 previous appearances, she has missed nine cuts and earned a season-best result of T6 at the ISPS Handa World Invitational presented by AVIV Clinics. This is her third time playing in the Buick LPGA Shanghai, and she finished T61 in 2018 at Qizhong Garden Golf Club and T50 in 2019 in her two previous starts.
With her status for 2024 on the line, Munoz will take every solid finish she can get as the 2023 season begins to wind down, and through two rounds in Shanghai, things look promising as she works to chase down a much-needed top-10 result, one that could mean job security for the 35-year-old in the new year.
“Obviously, when I'm out there, I don't know to think about it, but I know I'm 101,” said Munoz. “I just signed up for Q-Series, so I'm definitely very aware. Unfortunately, I don't like being in this situation. It's kind of the first time I find myself in this situation, but hopefully I can have a good weekend and then I can forget about it. I've been playing pretty good lately, but I don't seem to be able to put everything together on the same day. These couple days, I've been hitting my driver really well, hitting my irons good enough, and I've been making enough putts. So that's been the difference.”
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