With an hour and a half delay due to fog, Max Homa as a luxury spectator and better results in the morning session than in the afternoon, the second round of the Chevron Championship, the first women’s major of the season, had two very different outcomes for the Spanish representatives in the tournament. On one hand, Carlota Ciganda (-4), who held her ground playing in one of the afternoon matches to give herself a chance to fight for victory over the weekend; on the other, Carla Bernat (+7), who seemed to run out of energy at the last moment and ended up missing the cut.
The Navarrese golfer, starting today from the 1st tee, began Friday with a bogey. She quickly corrected it with a couple of birdies on the par-five 4th and the par-four 5th, but another bogey on the par-five 8th, where she had scored a sensational eagle yesterday, brought her back to square one, from which she did not move. In her last nine holes of the day, she made par, showing almost as much consistency from the tee as usual, but less precision with the irons, giving herself fewer opportunities.
Even so, after her 72 today, her deficit to the provisional lead is just three strokes, so with her experience, her knowledge of the course, and having shown yesterday that she can play very low, she faces the decisive 36 holes of the tournament with good prospects. A situation that, unfortunately, Carla Bernat will not be able to share, as she was practically always within the cut during the day but deflated right at the end.
The recent winner in Augusta started Friday in the best possible way, with a birdie on the par-four 10th, the first hole of her round, to go under par in the standings. Before closing the first half of her round, she committed three bogeys on the 11th, 16th, and 17th, but the two over par on her scorecard could have allowed her to continue playing over the weekend. Until the par-five 4th, where she committed a painful double bogey, started to make things very uphill…
Yan Liu currently holds the clubhouse lead here at the @Chevron_Golf.
Hers is the first albatross since Nanna Koerstz Madsen scored one at the 2024 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G. https://t.co/XtYwL6DYEV
— LPGA Media (@LPGAMedia) April 25, 2025
Two more bogeys on the 5th and 7th left Carla hoping for a miracle. She managed to birdie the par-five 8th, but on her last flag of the day, she suffered another double bogey for a round of 79 strokes, ending her first appearance in the Chevron. She will not be able to compete for the best amateur in the tournament, but she takes note for the other three women’s Majors of the season, in which she has a guaranteed spot as the champion in Augusta. Today she paid the ‘rookie mistake’.
At the top, neither of the two players who shared the lead after the first 18 holes managed to beat the course. Yan Liu (-7), with a tremendous albatross from over 150 metres on the par-five 8th and closing her round with a six-metre birdie putt, managed to minimise her many errors to play at par and retain her privileged position. Haeran Ryu (-5), who made seven birdies without error yesterday, experienced a real rollercoaster today with three birdies, three bogeys, and a double bogey for a 74, leaving her just one stroke above Carlota.
Nelly Korda working her way back with her fifth birdie of the day 🖐️ pic.twitter.com/hlTyVvZQXv
— LPGA (@LPGA) April 26, 2025
Lindy Duncan (-6) and Sarah Schmelzel (-6), who played in the morning, managed with rounds of 66 and 68 strokes respectively to climb the leaderboard and position themselves just one shot from the lead. The same distance at which Chinese Mao Saigo (-6) positioned herself with a great 68 and South Korean Hyo Joo Kim (-6), with 71 strokes this Friday. Meanwhile, Lexi Thompson (-4), who had started the tournament with a lukewarm 73, reacted today with a round of 67 strokes to rejoin the fight.
However, for a reaction, the current champion and World Number One, Nelly Korda (+1), was practically ‘written off’ yesterday with a start of 77 strokes… but unstoppable this afternoon at the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course at The Club at Carlton Woods, with six birdies after being seven over par, eventually saving the cut with a scorecard of 68 strokes. Her father, present at the tournament, will be proud of the American’s resilience in her challenging quest to retain the title.
