Pebble Beach, CA – Billy Tardi has chosen a good time and a beautiful location to play her best game of golf.
Tardy made the eagle on the par-5 6th hole at Pebble Beach for the second day in a row as part of a strong start to her second round Friday at the US Women’s Open, and held her steady the rest of the way for a 4-under 68. And a 2-shot lead.
Tardy never finished in the top 20 in her rookie year on the LPGA Tour. She now has the lead by 36 holes in women’s golf’s biggest event. And there was more in her good timing. Tardi was among the first group out, before the winds became strong enough to send dozens.
Tardy was seven-under at 137, one of only six players to remain below par at the weekend, with stronger winds in the forecast. Of these six, only NASA Hatooka experienced flagging winds in the afternoon. Hataoka 74 shot.
Rose Zhang was above the cut line when she made two bogeys early in the morning. She rallied for 71 to easily make it through the weekend. When the second round ended, Zhang was in a tie for 10th with a 1-over 145.
At least she’s still playing.
Jin Young-koo, the No. 1 player in women’s golf, missed a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole and missed the cut. So did Lilia Vu, who won her first LPGA competition of the year and didn’t crash 79 in her two days at Pebble Beach.
Two others who missed the cut were Michelle Wie West and Annika Sorenstam, though that came as no surprise. This was the final of the US Women’s Open, and they stopped to hug each other before reaching the 18th place.
Both hitting 79, Sorenstam finished off a shot on the rocks left of the 18th fairway—which led to a brief dispute over where it would land—and a double bogey.
“It’s a little bit bittersweet that it ended this way, but the memories are more than snapshots,” said Sorenstam, who accepted an invitation given the historic nature of the US Open women’s tournament being held in Pebble Beach for the first time. She retired after the 2008 season.
Wie West always wanted to see her daughter play, and she cuddled up to 3-year-old McKenna when it was over.
“It was a really emotional day, all the way to the end,” Wee West said. “It was a weird feeling. Now that it’s over, it’s a weird feeling.”
Now they’re handing the stage over to an eclectic mix of players, most looking for their first major, and some simply trying to win for the first time.
Tardi has only made four cuts this year, her best being a tie for 23 in Hawaii. Her only professional victory was two years ago on the LPGA Developmental Tour. She is No. 455 in the world ranking.
And she was not a bit surprised when she knocked out 18th-place Allisen Corpuz (70) and Hyo Joo Kim (71) by two points.
“I’ve always believed in myself to win whatever tournament I get into,” said Tardy, who played in college at Georgia. “I’m good enough to be here, and I’ve been in the LPGA, so I feel like I definitely own the game to live with the best in the world.”
The best in the world have some work to do.
Second seed Nelly Korda fired a 73 and chipped one shot, leaving 12 shots behind. Lydia Ko was 3rd in the world at 3-over 147 while playing one hole – 5 par-3 – at 5-par for two days.
“Aside from one hole, I played really strong,” Coe said.
Tardy has had little luck getting on the LPGA Tour, once losing a card for $343 on what is now the Epson Tour and twice more making close calls.
Faith has never wavered, especially with regard to him. Her approach up the steep hill to the 6th green settled within 4 feet – she holed a 15-foot eagle on Thursday.
“I feel like I’ve had really great hitting days and then put in terrible days, and then I’m going to have a great day, but a really bad day,” Tardy said. “So it finally comes together and meshes really well, and it happens at the right time.”
I played Pebble Beach last year for fun – who wouldn’t? – And he certainly knows the secret to scoring goals on windy days like this. She started to shoot in the middle of her round, but took advantage of all seven open holes. This is where he scores.
Tardy had four birdies with her eagle, dropped her only putt from a bunker in front of the par-3 fifth green and even missed a 6-foot birdie attempt in the eighth. – patch on bar 5-14.
Leona Maguire from Ireland is all set to join her. She polluted the last two holes on her back nine for 34 and had the easier front nine to play. Instead, Maguire stunned four of the next five holes by missing the greens, capping off with a forgettable three-putt finish from 25 feet for 40.
She was 6 shots behind in 143 but was too big for the game.
“Under par here you always know you’re going to be in good shape,” she said. “Just made some bad swings and it kind of cost me that early stretch on the front nine.”
Zhang was 8 shots behind but only had 10 in front and had 36 holes to play.
“I’ve been in this situation before where you have to chase after me,” she said, “and that’s nothing new to me.” “I’m just going to try to do the same thing. Try to hit as many green fairways as you can, because that will allow you to get more birdie chances. That’s all I can do.”