Sweden’s Holmqvist only player under par after 36 holes

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 such as 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 goals.

A 1-under 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-strong field were over par for a tournament being played without spectators and in an isolated environment on the southwest coast due to the pandemic.

Holmqvist’s form has come out of nowhere, with the 32-year-old 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 with 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 coronavirus outbreak gave her some much-needed time to heal but she still described herself as “injured.”

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

Capturing a first major title — indeed, a first professional win at senior level — won’t be easy, and not just because of how hard and long Troon is playing in often 50mph (80-kph) winds.

Lying two strokes behind Holmqvist on 1 over par are former No. 1 Lydia Ko (71) and No. 8-ranked Minjee Lee, who shot 69 Friday to tie for the lowest round. A further shot back is No. 4-ranked Nelly Korda.

“We were like, ‘Are you scared over 1footers, too, with this wind?’ Korda said, referring to a conversation she had with playing partner Georgia Hall, the 2018 champion. ”Because we were like shaking over it with wind and gusts.”