Valenzuela finally gets to the weekend at Evian

One of the best rounds of the day at the Evian Championship, the fourth LPGA major of the season, came from an amateur. Albane Valenzuela claimed that honor. For the incoming Stanford senior, Evian Resort in Evian-les-Bains, France is beginning to feel somewhat familiar.

Valenzuela has played this event four times, though she has never made the weekend. This week, she opened with 1-over 72. On Friday, however, the Swiss player had three birdies over her opening nine, made her only bogey at No. 10, recovered with birdie at No. 11 and closed with an eagle on the par-5 18th when she chipped in from 20 yards out. That all added up to 66.

Valenzuela finished 36 holes at 4 under, putting her safely inside the cut line.

Two women put rounds of 64 on the board on Friday – Hyo Joo Kim and Caroline Hedwall, a former NCAA champion while at Oklahoma State. Leader Mi Hyang Lee is 10 under after rounds of 65-67.

In addition to Valenzuela, there are four other amateurs in the field. Yuka Yasuda, the Japanese player who tied for third at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur then won the Asia-Pacific Women’s Amateur the next week, had back-to-back rounds of 70 and at 2 under, made the cut with four shots to spare.

Other amateur performances:

Emily Toy, 82-75, 15 over
Julie McCarthy, 86-77, 21 over
Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, 87-78, 23 over