Holmqvist only player under par

TROON, Scotland — As if Royal Troon isn’t playing hard enough for the world’s top female golfers this week, Dani

Holmqvist is going around the wind-swept Scottish links carrying a nagging back injury from a cart crash in 2018.

It’s not stopping the Swede leading the Women’s British Open after two rounds.

On another tough day when first-round leader Amy Olson shot 81 — 14 strokes worse than Thursday — and stars like Lexi Thompson, Brooke Henderson and defending champion

Hinako Shibuno missed the cut, Holmqvist shot 1-under 70 in windy morning conditions to be the only player under par after 36 holes.

A 1-under total of 141 left Holmqvist a stroke ahead of Austin Ernst of the United

States (70) and Sophia Popov of Germany (72). The rest of the 144-player field was over par.

Holmqvist’s form has come out of nowhere, with the 32-yearold Swede having missed the cut in 13 of the 20 events she has played since the golf cart in which she was riding between holes in the Blue Bay event on the LPGA Tour in November 2018 lost control and slammed into a wall.

As well as suffering from a leaking disk in her back, Holmqvist had a badly inflamed facet joint that has required multiple injections and regular rehab. The suspension of golf because of the pandemic gave her some much-needed time to heal.

“It’s a long process and very tedious,” she said. “It’s an everyday thing.”

Lying two strokes behind Holmqvist at 1-over par are former No. 1 Lydia Ko (71) and No. 8-ranked Minjee Lee, who shot 69 to tie for the lowest round Friday.

After what she described as the best ball-striking round of her career to shoot 67 on Thursday, Olson came back to earth with a 10-over round that included six bogeys on her first 10 holes, and double bogeys at Nos. 11 and 14.

Gaby Lopez (University of Arkansas) shot an 80 on Friday. Her 9-over 151 was just good enough to make the cut. Two other former Razorbacks — Stacy

Lewis and Maria Fassi — were not as fortunate and missed the cut. Lewis shot a 77 on Friday and finished 11-over par. Fassi turned in an 82 on Friday and finished at 15-over par.