By: Max Bechtoldt
Sarah Schmelzel leads the HSBC Women’s World Championship by one stroke at -4, but she has a crowded leaderboard of LPGA champions right behind her.
Its Schmelzel’s first time leading an LPGA Tour event following a round in her career. Her career is better than that stat shows, with eight career top 10s and a top 70 CME finish in all of her six LPGA seasons.
Schmelzel had an electric front nine, her second nine of the round, where she shot -5 after a +1 first nine. She played her typical game, hitting 10 of 14 fairways and hitting only 28 putts on a day where the greens were difficult for the majority of the field.
Immediately behind Schmelzel are some heavy hitters on tour, including Linn Grant (above), Lilia Vu, In Gee Chun, Hyo Joo Kim and Leona Maguire.
Grant showed her pure talent, averaging over 275 on tee shots and hitting only 27 putts. She’s looking for her second LPGA Tour win in her first full season on the Tour.
The second round starts on Golf Channel tonight at 9:30 PM est.
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