The first 36 holes of play at the Epson Tour Championship at Indian Wells are complete, and the cut has been made, with 63 athletes set to take on the weekend at Indian Wells Golf Resort. The Players Course yielded low scores once again, with Heather Lin setting the pace in round two, turning in the lowest round of the week with a bogey-free 8-under 63. The 8-under performance moved Lin into solo first over Hailee Cooper and Clariss Guce, who shared the lead after round one.

Lin has had a rollercoaster of a year, making the cut in half of her 18 starts this season but managing two top-10 finishes in that span. Her 8-under round is her best score of the season by three shots, adding to an already special week that included a hole-in-one in her first round.

The Chinese Taipei native was a model of consistency in round two, starting the day with two pars before rattling off four birdies in five holes on the front nine. She made the turn at 4-under and two shots back of the leaders at the time.

Lin started the back nine the same way she started the front, with two pars followed by back-to-back birdies. Two more pars followed before she added two more circles to her scorecard on 16 and 17. A par on 18 put her at 12-under overall and gave her a two-shot advantage heading into Moving Day.

“I would say my putting really helped me today, and I just adjust really well with the green speed in the afternoon round and all that and my irons, definitely put myself in a lot of good positions,” explained Lin. “It was huge for my position now, for the ranking, and it sets me in a good position going into the weekend.”

Guce and Cooper are tied for second after sharing the lead following round one. The pair had very similar rounds on day two, both making five birdies and two bogeys on their way to a 3-under 68.

Guce is a two-time winner on the Epson Tour, with both of her victories coming during the 2016 season. Other than her wins, the 34-year-old's career-best finish is a runner-up result at the 2022 Guardian Championship.

Cooper is a 2024 Epson Tour rookie but has been making waves since earning more starts after the first reshuffle of the season. The Texas A&M University graduate missed the cut in her second start but has since made 10 straight cuts, including this week. Cooper is coming off a runner-up finish at the Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout, which moved her into the top 35 in the Race for the Card and into contention to earn an LPGA Tour card by the end of the week.

“I think it was just stay in your stay in your lane almost. Don't try to outdo yourself,” said Cooper after her second round. “You had a really good round yesterday, and to just go out and play the same game and keep the same mindset. I started off pretty slow, but I was able to get back on track. Overall, I was happy with it.”

Saki Baba, Pornanong Phatlum and Amelia Garvey sit in a tie for fourth at 8-under overall, with Phatlum looking to become the first player of the 2024 season to capture two wins on Tour. Baba and Garvey are on the hunt for their first professional victories and are hoping the Epson Tour Championship at Indian Wells will be the tournament that sees them finally get across the line.

The third round of the Epson Tour Championship at Indian Wells will begin at 7:45 a.m. local time, with players teeing off holes 1 and 11. The field will be repaired at the conclusion of round three based on their overall totals. Ten cards remain up for grabs as the Epson Tour’s season wraps up, with plenty of players still vying to secure LPGA Tour Membership for the 2025 season.

Heather Lin Takes the Lead at the Epson Tour Championship at Indian Wells Ahead of the Weekend

Related Articles