WEST CALDWELL, N.J. — Gino Titicle took advantage of a friendly change in weather Friday and closed with four birdies in his final seven holes to build a three-shot lead at the Mizuho Americas Open.
Jennifer Kupcho shot a 69 in the morning and finished with a 15-foot par save on the par-4 18th, making her play more than one shot over par for a player with such a fast start. The greens were firm, the rough was thick, and the premium was on par.
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Titicle experienced that when he didn’t get a birdie until the 8th hole, the par-5 17th. But then there was enough rain on Mountain Ridge to put the fire out of the course, and the wind seemed to be moving away from the city with a light drizzle.
“Fortunately, after the rain, there wasn’t a lot of wind on the back nine, but then it kind of shut down,” Titicle said. “Then we were just lucky. If (the wind) was blowing like it did on the front nine, I don’t think my ranking would be that low, for sure.”
She entered the weekend at 8-under 136, giving her a chance to win her first championship of the year, but also her first since losing the No. 1 spot to Nelly Korda, who won’t be playing this week.
Conditions were very tough in the late morning, and Lydia Ko easily accepted a 75, closing the gap on the leader by six strokes in the end.
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“It’s probably one of those rare occasions where you shoot 75 and you don’t want to stress too much about it,” Coe said. “The green is pretty undulating and you put yourself in some positions above the hole and you don’t even know if you can hold it on the green at that point.”
Andrea Lee, who started the first round in the lead with a 66, had five bogeys in six holes on the front nine. He didn’t get a birdie until the 16th hole, and shot a 79.
Kupcho fell out of position late in the round on the 17th hole and made bogey on the par-5 hole. On the 18th, the pin got stuck on top of a bunker, making the approach difficult. She entered the sand and jumped 15 feet for a par putt. Kupcho had a serious demeanor when he played, and he couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear.
She also wondered about the tricky pin placement on the undulating green knob. And she had reason to think she could maintain her 5-under 139 record. At least that’s what it looked like until we got a little rain and the wind died down in the late afternoon.
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“All these pin placements were on the side of the hill, like No. 14, 15, 16, 17, 18,” Kupcho said. “I honestly don’t know if the greens will be playable this afternoon given the wind and the speed they’re playing at.
“It’s a really difficult golf course,” she said. “All the greens on the back nine are so undulating that there’s nowhere to put your pins. They’re really hard greens. That’s what it is.”
Brooke Matthews shot a 72 and was four shots behind, while Celine Boutier (France) shot a 68 and was five shots behind at 3-under 141.
The tournament saw 24 of the United States Junior Golf Association’s top players compete in the Stableford event, reducing the field to a tie of 50 players.
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Among the players who missed the weekend were Charlie Hull, Brooke Henderson and Sei-young Kim.
Tournament host Michelle Wie West was also absent, but that wasn’t a big surprise. This will be her first tournament in three years as she prepares for her final U.S. Women’s Open next month. She went for an 82 and then an 80 for a birdie on the final hole.
