PALOS VERDES ESTATES, Calif. — After carding a 5-over 76 on Thursday at Palos Verdes Golf Club, Maria Fassi found herself on the outside looking in at the FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship, needing something incredibly special on Friday in Southern California if she wanted to make her first cut of the 2024 LPGA Tour season.
With her back against the wall, the Mexico native dug deep and came out swinging, ultimately firing a 6-under 65 in the second round to vault up the leaderboard and play the weekend on the LPGA Tour for the first time this year.
Starting her day on No. 10, Fassi found a birdie early on the par-3 11th hole but erased her early effort with a bogey on the par-3 13th hole. She recovered from that mistake quickly, rattling off three straight birdies on holes 14, 15 and 16 to get back to 2-over for the tournament and turn in 32.
The 25-year-old dropped another shot on the par-4 1st hole but once again bounced back with a pair of back-to-back birdies on the par-4 2nd and par-4 3rd holes, now at 1-over overall. She parred the fourth hole before grabbing another birdie on No. 5 to get back to even par and sit at 5-under on the day, burying a midrange birdie putt on the par-4 9th hole to post a 65, her lowest round on the LPGA Tour since shooting 62 on day one of the 2022 ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican.
After a surprisingly sluggish start considering how well she played on the Ladies European Tour at the Lalla Meryem Cup a few weeks ago, Fassi was extremely proud of the fight she put up on day two in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., and is looking forward to taking advantage of her first weekend of LPGA Tour golf since The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican last November.
“I think I have got to get the most improved gold star,” said Fassi, whose 65 ties her third-lowest career round on the LPGA Tour. “I think yesterday came out of nowhere in a way. I finished 5-over, and I was talking to my caddie and trying to understand how that happened. I wasn't necessarily too concerned about the score because I knew that I was hitting good shots.
“I think today we stayed patient, stayed true to our game plan that we had set in place after Wednesday, and I’m happy to see that paid off and excited that I get two more goes at it. Hopefully, keep climbing up the leaderboard.”
This is Fassi’s third start of the 2024 LPGA Tour season, and this week’s made cut is a vast improvement from the two missed cuts she had at the LPGA Drive On Championship and Blue Bay LPGA in her first two events of the year. This is her third time teeing it up at Palos Verdes Golf Club, and in her two previous appearances at the venue, Fassi has missed one cut and earned a best finish of T49 that came in the inaugural edition of this tournament.
Fassi joined the LPGA Tour in 2019 after a standout collegiate career at the University of Arkansas and has struggled at times to find success in the professional ranks, only earning eight top-10 finishes in her six seasons as a Tour member. But the undeterrable Latina never quits and has battled her way back from the brink many times over the years, always managing to maintain her LPGA Tour status despite dealing with the most difficult of challenges on the golf course.
Her performance on Friday at Palos Verdes Golf Club is just the latest example of Fassi’s gritty tenacity, an attribute that should serve her well over the weekend at the FIR HILLS SERI PAK Championship as inclement weather threatens to plague the field on Moving Day and as she works to generate some positive momentum just outside the City of Angels as the 2024 LPGA Tour season ramps up.
“I think today we played very, very smart,” said Fassi. “When we were in an unfortunate position, we were just trying to find a way to get ourselves in the best place to possibly get it up and down. We weren't trying to be superheroes out here. I think for me, that's been hard sometimes because I can pull off some of those shots quite often, and it's hard for me to be smart.
“I think a round like today, it's also a lesson for me to know that if you stay smart, you can go out and make eight birdies like it's nothing. I’m excited for the next couple of days and the next two weeks as well. We got two good golf courses and just get some momentum for the rest of the year.”
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