Rohanna rallies on back nine with 3 birdies
Rachel Rohanna rallied from a tough start Friday with three consecutive birdies on the back nine to position herself for a spot in the third round of the inaugural Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic.
The tournament at Thornberry Creek at Oneida course was was suspended at 3:48 p.m. Central Time due to lightning with over half the field still on the course.
The Waynesburg Central graduate finished the second round with a 1-over 73 for a two-round total of 4-under 140. The anticipated cut is 3-under.
Katherine Kirk is the leader in the clubhouse at 13-under 131.
Rohanna had a strong first round with seven birdies and one double bogey for a 5-under 67 and a tie for fifth place, but the momentum didn’t carry over to the second round.
Rohanna had bogeys on Nos. 2, 8 and 9 to play the front nine in 3-over 39.
“It was just a couple 3-putts and I had to take an unplayable on No. 9,” explained Rohanna.
Rohanna started the back with a par, but had her fourth bogey of the round on No. 12 to slip to 1-under for the tournament.
“Yeah, something like that,” Rohanna said when asked if she gave herself a pep talk after the fourth bogey.
Rohanna began to turn her round around on No. 12 with the first of three consecutive birdies.
“I made a really long putt on No. 12. That kind of got my putter going a little,” said Rohanna. “But, I still missed 12 putts inside 12 feet today. I had 36 putts total. I hit the ball great, but just skimming the edges of the hole.”
“Well, the first one was the long putt, about 30 feet. Then, I had a 2-putt birdie on a par-5 and made a 12-footer for my last one,” Rohanna said of her birdie run.
Rohanna hit 11-of-14 fairways and 15-of-18 greens in regulation.
Rohanna flirted with the anticipated cut line after the bogey string, but did not think about not making the cut.
“No, I knew I was playing too well to finish without some birdies,” said Rohanna. “I was just trying to get as many as possible coming in. I gave myself really, really good chances, but nothing would fall.”
Rohanna plans an equipment change to see if she can get more putts to fall.
“I have a new putter in the bag for tomorrow,” chuckled Rohanna. “I have an Odyssey that I got around March that I switch on and off with, so not brand new but I’ve only used it in maybe four or five events this year.”