Masson Leads Round 2 of North Texas LPGA Shootout

2013 LPGA Tour rookie Caroline Masson managed to weather a rough finish to her second round and hold the lead for the second straight day at the inaugural North Texas LPGA Shootout at Las Colinas Country Club in Irving, Texas. Masson followed up her bogey-free 64 on Thursday by recording bogeys on three of her final four holes in Friday’s second round to shoot an even-par 71 and remain at 7-under-par overall for the event.

Masson leads by one shot over 2012 LET Rookie of the Year Carlota Ciganda, who fired a 1-under 71 on Friday.

“I didn’t play as good as yesterday, but I expected that after that round yesterday,” Masson said. “So I was off to a good start with a birdie on one, which was really nice. And it calmed me down a little bit, and after that I just made a few good pars, but I also made some good putts for birdie. The last few yeah, that was just some bad shots on the last few holes, but still I think, yeah a round of level par is never bad, you know. And especially in that situation. So I’m just looking forward to the weekend.”

The round of the day on Friday belonged to a fellow LPGA Tour rookie, 18-year-old Moriya Jutanugarn. The Bangkok, Thailand native shot a 5-under 66 to move into a tie for third, two shots behind the leader, Masson. Jutanugarn currently leads the 2013 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year race. Also sitting two shots back of Masson is Rolex Rankings No. 1 Inbee Park, who shot a 1-under 70 despite missing two short putts around five feet in over her final two holes.

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“Today was a little bit more windier than yesterday,” Park said. “So it was a little bit more challenging with picking clubs.”

There is a strong group of players currently at 4-under-par including Yani Tseng, who held the No. 1 spot in the Rolex Rankings for 109 consecutive weeks prior to losing the ranking to Stacy Lewis on March 18. Also in that group at 4-under are a few other former LPGA Tour winners including Shanshan Feng, who captured last year’s Wegmans LPGA Championship to become the first ever winner on the LPGA from China, and Americans Brittany Lincicome and Jessica Korda.

Fort Worth resident Angela Stanford remained the top ranking Texan in the field, following up her opening round 2-under 69 with a 1-under 70 to sit in a tie for 11th at 3-under-par. Stanford is one of seven Texans to make the cut following Friday’s second round.

A total of 80 players made the cut, which fell at 3-over-par 145. As part of the event’s “Shootout” format, there will also be a second cut made on Saturday that will reduce the field to the top 50 players and ties.

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