Henderson, Sharp fall back at Dow invite

Italy’s Giulia Molinaro and Northern Ireland’s Stephanie Meadow fired a 9-under 61 in better-ball play on Thursday to share the lead at the midway point of the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational in Midland, Mich.

Meadow and Molinaro are at 10-under 130 through two rounds, level with the French pair of Celine Boutier and Karine Icher and the United States duo of Paula Creamer and Morgan Pressel.

Boutier and Icher carded a 62 on Thursday, while Creamer and Pressel produced a 64.

The first-round leaders, Canadians Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., and Alena Sharp of Hamilton managed only a 66 Thursday after shooting a 65 Wednesday to sit tied for fourth with five other teams at 9 under.

In the LPGA Tour’s first team event, the pairs are playing a better-ball format in the second and fourth rounds with each player competing through each hole on her own and the team recording the better of the two scores. The first and third rounds are utilizing an alternate-shot format in which the players take turns playing the same ball.

Meadow did most of the heavy lifting for her team, recording seven birdies and one bogey. Molinaro had four birdies in a bogey-free round. The duo carded birdies on each of the last five holes of the front nine.

“There’s something about when your partner is in a little bit of trouble that you kind of pick up the pace and try to make birdie and kind of have their back. I think that’s what we did really well today,” Meadow told LPGA.COM.

Boutier and Icher ended their round with three consecutive birdies.

The event is being played Wednesday through Saturday in order to give players extra travel time ahead of the fourth of the season’s five majors next week, the Evian Championship in Evian-lesbains, France.