Marina Alex began her day at two-under par, four strokes back of first round leader Chella Choi, but quickly made up ground by making four birdies in her first seven holes, following that with an additional four birdies and an eagle on the final hole. The American carded her career-low round on Friday with an eight-under par, 64 to take the early 36-hole lead at 10-under par.
“Yeah. Super happy,” said Alex. “Just kind of everything fell together, ball striking, putting. I actually left a couple of putts out there, but I mean I'm not going to complain about the score that I shot.”
Alex is the No. 139 player in the Rolex Rankings and has three career top-10 finishes, a tie for sixth place (2016 LPGA Volvik Championship) and two ties for ninth place (2015 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, 2014 RICOH Women’s British Open). A win this week would not only be the first for the 2013 rookie but also move her up on the money list and secure her spot for the Asian swing.
With a lot of golf remaining to be played this afternoon, Alex is feeling good about where she sits heading into the weekend.
“I've been close. At that point whether you're the last group, second-to-last, third-to-last, it's all kind of the same. I have a little bit of experience there, so it'll be good,” explained Alex.
The strategy for tomorrow for Alex will be the same thing; picking targets, keeping her focus, making those putts and having fun.
“I know. And Mina (Harigae) played awesome, too,” said Alex. “And we were kind of like just feeding off each other. I think we were like 14-under total for the two of us. I mean we had a great time. So it was really good to have someone else also playing well and just kind of push each other.”
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