Bailey Tardy is the epitome of a surprise clubhouse leader at the U.S. Women’s Open.
The LPGA rookie has five missed cuts and one withdrawal in 10 events this season and nearly didn’t qualify to play in this week’s major championship. But there she was atop the leaderboard after two rounds, as a 4-under 68 gave her a 7-under 137 total on Friday at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links.
“I’m honestly just enjoying the moment here,” Tardy said after making the cut for the first time in her four U.S. Women’s Opens. “I’m leading the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. And I think that’s something that is just so special. I’m trying not to get too ahead of myself. There’s so much golf left.”
Tardy will carry a two-shot lead over Allisen Corpuz (70 on Friday) and Hyo Joo Kim of South Korea (71) into the weekend. Hae Ran Ryu of South Korea shot a 72 for fourth place at 3 under, and Ireland’s Leona Maguire and Japan’s Nasa Hataoka are tied for fifth at 1 under after each shooting 74.
Tardy, 26, made four birdies and eagled the par-5 sixth hole for the second straight day. She had two bogeys in the round.
Her eagle at No. 6 on Thursday propelled her to an opening-round 69.
“I think (No.) 6 is a really difficult drive for me, knowing that there’s bunkers that I can reach and then water,” Tardy said. “But once you get over that, you hit a good shot. I know the line straight over that hill, so just having that confidence to be able to hit the green in two I guess has helped me do that the last two days.”
Tardy, who is from Norcross, Ga., had a tough road to qualify for her first U.S. Women’s Open since 2017.
She stalled about signing up but repeated badgering by her mother finally got her into a qualifier in Minnesota before the deadline. Then she thought she was done and was preparing for the flight home when someone else’s wayward play kept her alive.
“I had showered, I had changed, I had packed my golf clubs, and I was out,” Tardy said. “‘I’m first alternate. Get me home. I’m done. I’m tired.’ I also bogeyed the last hole, and so I was kind of kicking myself for that.”
But with renewed life, Tardy gained the second of two qualifying spots during a four-hole playoff.
Corpuz made four birdies against two bogeys during her round. Three birdies were on the front nine.
“I think going into this year it really has just been about getting better and better,” said Corpuz, who has yet to win on the LPGA Tour but in April tied for fourth at the Chevron Championship, the first major of the season. “I honestly still need to get a little more comfortable, I think, in contention.”
Kim, a co-leader after Day 1, started on the back nine and made four birdies in an eight-hole stretch between No. 12 and No. 1. That brought her to 7 under, but she closed her round with consecutive bogeys to slip behind.
“I started well like yesterday. I was feeling well and satisfied,” Kim said. “But not as well as yesterday, but I did not make major mistakes. Then the last two holes, yes, I did make mistakes so I was not feeling as good.”
The World No. 8 has one major title under her belt, the 2014 Evian Championship.
“Starting tomorrow I will have an excellent mindset as a new day,” Kim said.
Maguire finished the day with five bogeys, including three straight at one point, and three birdies to drop to 1 under for the championship.
“Yeah, struggled a bit today,” said Maguire, who squandered a 54-hole lead at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship two weeks ago. “I had a lot of really good up-and-downs to sort of keep me in it, but didn’t really play my best golf today. Didn’t hit enough greens, and that kind of made things a little bit difficult.”
Former Stanford star Rose Zhang shot 71 and is at 1-over 145.
“Feel like the game isn’t exactly where I want it to be exactly, but you can’t really have that many weeks where you’re always on top of your game,” said Zhang, who recently turned professional among a sea of hype.
“You have to learn how to grind it out, and I’m slowly learning to do so.”
Canada’s Brooke Henderson (75) is at 2 over, New Zealand’s Lydia Ko (71) is 3 over and Nelly Korda (73) is 5 over.
The top 60 players and ties made the cut at 6 over par or better. World No. 1 Jin Young Ko was not among them. The South Korean couldn’t sink a birdie putt on her final hole and missed the cut by a single shot at 7 over, following Thursday’s 79 with a 72.
Thailand’s Atthaya Thitikul (76 Friday, 8-over total), Jennifer Kupcho (77, 9 over) and Lexi Thompson (79, 9 over) were other notables to miss the cut.
Michelle Wie West shot 79 for the second straight day, leading to a missed cut at the final event of her playing career at 14 over. She was able to celebrate when a difficult 31-foot par putt dropped on her final hole.
–Field Level Media
