Japan’s Ayaka Furue leads the Evian Championship by three shots but had five holes remaining in the second round when play was suspended due to weather Friday afternoon in Evian-les-Bains, France.
Players were initially evacuated from the Evian Resort Golf Club course at 4:23 p.m. local time due to dangerous storms, including lightning. Play was officially called for the day at 6:09 p.m. local time.
The second round of play will begin at 7:30 a.m. Saturday. Sixty-six players will need to complete the second round before the cut to the top 65 and ties will be made.
The third round is set to begin at approximately 10:45 a.m. Saturday.
Furue erased a one-shot deficit at the start of the second round and is 12 under through 31 holes.
Haeran Ryu (South Korea) and Stephanie Kyriacou (Australia) are tied for second place at 9 under and both shot 66 in the first round. Kyriacou has two holes to complete in the second round and Ryu was on the 11th when organizers halted play.
The round of the day belonged to 24-year-old Yu Jin Sung, who followed a first-round 72 with a round of 8-under 63.
“I think the course is pretty familiar to courses I’ve played in Korea,” said Sung. “It’s a bit tougher here than in Korea, but there are many similarities so I think Korean players may have an advantage in attacking the pins. Even if you hit it well, the ball tends to bounce out quite a bit so it’s important to keep your mental game in and focus when that happens.”
Sung was one of three South Koreans — Hyo Joo Kim and Mi Hyang Lee are the others — tied for sixth at 7-under when weather conditions forced the delay.
Despite the weather challenges, Lee expressed appreciation for the tournament that brings back memories of her rookie year, when at Evian she notched her career best finish at that point, a tie for 19th.
“So it was good start for my memory with Evian,” Lee said. “… really like view is great, and then hotel is great, everyone, like volunteers is great, and everyone is so kind of us, too. This is my favorite golf tournament.”
Defending champion Celine Boutier, who was the first French woman to win the tournament, shot a second-round 68 and sits at -5 and tied with nine others for 16th place in the standings.
“I feel like my game has been very solid the last two days,” Boutier said. “I definitely feel like my long game has been kind of carrying me, and I feel like I could have shot a few strokes lower yesterday and today so that’s pretty positive. Because I can improve. I think just a few putts here and there and we’ll be in good position.”
Nelly Korda was potentially in danger of missing the cut in her third straight major, sitting at 1-under through 14 holes when the horn sounded to clear the course.
–Field Level Media
