By: Max Bechtoldt
Over the first couple months of the season, it was clear who the breakout player of the LPGA season was, 30-year-old Sarah Schmelzel. Despite relatively little previous success, she had four top-10 finishes in her first six events.
Since that time, things have gone south. While she looked in top form in her home area of Phoenix, she since has missed five of the last seven cuts and hasn’t finished in the top 30. That hasn’t been the case this week.
After a solid -1 first round in the difficult afternoon wave, she took advantage of the easier conditions in the second round to shoot -5 and take a two-stroke lead.
Schmelzel played her game solidly on Friday. While she isn’t the flashiest player around, she does hit fairways and greens, with solid putts. She hit 11 fairways, 14 greens and only had 27 putts in the second round. While Schmelzel’s first round was packed with pars, Friday saw her making some more interesting scores. Sarah had six birdies with one bogey, the rest pars.
She has a two-stroke lead over some of the biggest names in women’s golf currently, major champions Jin Young Ko, Lexi Thompson and Hinako Shibuno.
