Annika second round standings
-9 L Grant (Swe), G Kim (Aus); -8 H Ryu (Kor), J Kupcho (US); -7 G Lopez (Mex)
Other selected players: -6 N Korda (US), C Ciganda (Spa); -5 C Hull (Eng), E Henseleit (Ger); -1 L Maguire (Ire); +5 L Thompson (US); +18 K Trump (US)
Complete leaderboard
Kai Trump failed to make the cut in her LPGA debut, finishing with a five-over 75 to end up at 18 over par overall at the Annika event in Florida.
The 18-year-old amateur, who is the granddaughter of former US President Donald Trump, placed last among the 108 competitors after the second round.
Trump, who entered the Pelican Golf Club as a sponsor exemption, significantly improved from the 83 she recorded on Thursday, which was marked by large crowds and her struggle with nerves.
She scored birdies on the third, seventh, 11th, and 12th holes, nearly securing an eight iron shot from 140 yards that would have been her first hole-in-one.
«I was very anxious on the first day. The nerves definitely affected me,» Trump shared.
«But today, I felt grounded and serene, to be honest. That’s why I performed better.»
While she managed to make par on the challenging 18th hole for the second day in a row, she faced notable challenges including a triple-bogey seven on the par-four fifth hole.
“Incidents will happen. Once they do, you cannot rewind and correct it,” added Trump, whose mother Vanessa is in a relationship with 15-time men’s major champion Tiger Woods.
“The best approach is to move forward. As I told my caddie, Allan [Kournikova], I just started to laugh. It is what it is. We’ve handled that, so let’s just move forward. It was fairly easy to do so after that.”
Trump, who plans to compete for the University of Miami next year, has participated in only three events this season.
She currently holds the 461st spot in the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) rankings, yet she made a significant impact, averaging 241 yards off the tee and successfully hitting 11 of 14 fairways.
“That’s impressive, especially considering this isn’t just any LPGA tournament; this is likely one of the more challenging courses we encounter,” remarked England’s Charley Hull, who played three groups ahead of Trump.
Hull, who dealt with visa and health issues leading up to the tournament, stands at five under overall, trailing four strokes behind joint leaders Linn Grant and Grace Kim.
World number two Nelly Korda finds herself in a five-way tie for sixth at six under par, along with Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, following a remarkable seven-under 63 on Friday.
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