Sharp stays on point despite penalty, headache
Hamilton golfer fires off red-hot round to take a share of lead at LPGA Classic
CAMBRIDGE, ONT. Alena Sharp was given an enthusiastic applause as she approached the 18th green at Whistle Bear Golf Club on Friday afternoon. And why wouldn’t she be?
After all, the Hamilton, Ont., native had to battle through a headache and a penalty stroke to take a share of the tournament lead at 12-under par after two rounds of the Manulife LPGA Classic.
Sharp shot a 6-under 66 at the 6,613-yard, par-72 rolling course to put her into a tie with world No. 4 Lexi Thompson of the U.S., who carded a 7-under 65, and South Korean Hyo Joo Kim, who shot a 67.
Sharp’s scorecard included six birdies, an eagle and a doublebogey, which came on the par-5 third hole where she was assessed a penalty stroke for grounding her club and causing the ball to move.
“I had to call the rules official because when I addressed my chip shot the ball moved. I mean, I don’t think I completely grounded my club, but the way the rule reads ...”
Well, if that isn’t enough to give you a headache we don’t know what is. But Sharp said hers was likely caused by dehydration. She had to reach out to the gallery on the 11th hole to provide her with some medication.
Sharp said she was proud of herself for being able to put the penalty behind her and move on to a good round.
“I have done a lot of mental work over the last three years, so I’m glad it paid off today,” said Sharp, the top Canadian here last year. “I thought I did the right thing (telling the official). I went out and birdied the next hole and really just forgot about it.”
There has never been a Canadian winner at this event. Now there are three with a legitimate shot at challenging for the title. Unheralded Brittany Marchand, here on a sponsor’s exemption, is also in the hunt after shooting a 2-under 70 to get to 7-under for the tournament. She sits in a tie for 20th.
Young star Brooke Henderson rebounded from a disappointing opening round to card a 5-under 67 and get to 6-under heading into the weekend.
She’s in a tie for 24th with a slew of other players.
Marchand, a native of Orangeville, Ont., has been plying her trade on the Symetra Tour this year, where her best finish is a tie for 11th.
“My goal this week was to make the cut, so I’m happy,” said Marchand, who had six birdies and four bogeys. “I’m just trying to have fun, trying to enjoy the experience. It’s really nice playing at home, I have family watching.”
Three players are in a tie for fourth at 11-under, including Frenchwoman Perrine Delacour, who shot a course-record 62, and American Lindy Duncan, who posted a sizzling 29 on the front nine and equalled Delacour’s 10 birdies. Duncan could have gone even lower had it not been for a double-bogey, bogey finish.
Three players were at 10-under par, including world No. 6 Shanshan Feng of China.
HAPPY DAYS
It was nice to see Henderson smiling again, but a good round of golf can do that to a person.
She was none too happy after a frustrating round Thursday and declined to speak to reporters. But Henderson is still young, just 19, and will learn to cope with lessthan-stellar rounds.
“That’s the learning curve and I’m still working on that,” the Smiths Falls, Ont., native said. “I still take them (poor rounds) pretty tough sometimes. But coming back with a day like today is really important and teaching me that it’s only one round; the cut is two rounds and the tournament is four. It’s not the end of the world when you make a mistake on the first day.”
The world No. 15 teed off Friday morning when scoring conditions were perfect and players went low, before the clouds rolled in and a slight breeze kicked up. She carded six birdies, including a string of four between the ninth and 12th holes, and one bogey.
SO CLOSE
Not even a course record was good enough to give Delacour a share of the lead. The 341st-ranked player in the world, who has missed five cuts this season and not finished better than a tie for 32nd, came out of nowhere to shoot up the leaderboard 54 places after carding the best round of her career.
Delacour reached all 18 greens in regulation and needed just 27 putts.
“I didn’t look at the score at all,” she said. “I didn’t know. When I was done, I asked my caddy, ‘Did I shoot 10-under?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, I think so.’ ”
Her best finish here is a tie for 49th.
CHIP SHOTS
Sharp will go out in the last pairing Saturday with Thompson at 12:50 p.m. … The cutline was set at 2-under. That means only three of 13 Canadians entered in the field are through to the weekend.