Former Rolex Rankings No. 1 So Yeon Ryu is another player that took three weeks off from competitive golf after the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and boy, did it do her some good. The 32-year-old Korean currently sits at 9 under and five back of the lead at the Amundi Evian Championship after shooting 67-66 at an always tricky Evian Resort Golf Club. Friday saw Ryu card six birdies on the back nine, which was playing as her front nine, propelling her up the leaderboard and into contention at a major championship, a place Ryu hasn’t found herself in quite some time.
“My front nine, which was the back nine, I played really well. I made six birdies, so that really helped to keep low scores,” said Ryu who birdied holes 11 and 12 and then made four in a row from Nos. 15 through 18. “My iron shot was really great today again so I'm very satisfied with my iron shot today. Then I think tee shot was a little better than yesterday as well, so everything was improved. I hoped I was able to make more birdies at the back nine, but just the situation was not really easy to make a birdie but I'm happy with the 66.”
This is Ryu’s 11th time teeing it up in Evian-les-Bains and her ninth time playing the event since it became a major championship in 2013. Her best finish is a tie for second in 2016 and her second-round 66 ties her lowest score in the tournament since Evian became a major. As she looks ahead to the weekend, Ryu is grateful to be in the position she’s in and hopes to make the most of things on Saturday and Sunday, even more so considering she’s in need of a confidence boost.
“I'm not going to lie, I'm really happy to be in contention,” said the two-time major champion. “Been a long time. I really hope I can make this chance really nicely at the end. But I think right now, the most important thing is just playing with a lot of confidence. I think I've lost quite a lot of confidence, so I really need to get back my confidence.”
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