Tougher conditions on Thursday saw the sunny skies from Wednesday disappear as the wind picked up midway through the round. Team USA was led by Mia Hammond of New Albany, Ohio and Molly Brown Davidson of Springville, Ala., who both shot even par rounds of 71 to keep Team USA at 3-under for the tournament.
Teammate Chloe Kovelesky of Boca Raton, Fla. shot a round of 3-over 74. The top two individual scores count towards the combined team score each day.
Davidson began her round on the back nine and rallied after a tough start to record six birdies on the front nine to finish at even par. She credited a well-timed joke from her team captain and improved ball striking to help turn things around on Thursday.
“We just kept fighting today. Conditions were not easy, but we just wanted to keep fighting for our team and each other. In my head, I just wanted to keep going and making those putts. I was really motivated to keep it going,” said Davidson.
Team USA takes a two-shot lead into Friday’s third round over Team Canada 1. Team Canada was led by 14-year-old Anna Huang of Vancouver, who shot a 2-under 69 to help move Canada up one spot into second.
“I think we all did really good. We’re just supporting each other and helping each other out on the course. It’s really fun, we’re just trying to keep it together and hope for the best the next two days,” said Huang.
Team Canada 2 sits at 21-over and features 16-year-old Luna Lu of Burnaby, B.C. at 3-over 74, and 14-year-old Eileen Park of Red Deer, Alta. at 6-over 77 and 14-year-old Miranda Lu of Vancouver at 7-over 78.