Charlie Hull and Lilia Vu again played alongside Nelly Korda on Friday, proving themselves in front of a crowd as three of the most talented LPGA women battled the elements at St. Andrews to remain in the top three spots on the AIG Women’s Open leaderboard for now.
Hull shot an even-par 72 and Vu improved with a two-under 70 to finish at five under par.
The Englishman had the crowd’s support at her home tournament. She recovered from a shaky start and worked her way up the leaderboard. She bogeyed her first hole, the par-four 10th. Hull lost another stroke on the 14th to be two over par at the turn.
The 28-year-old bogeyed the second 11th hole again to drop to three over par for the day, before birdieing three of her final seven holes to finish even for the day.
Despite the score difference, Hull felt they played similarly to how they did on Thursday.
“I thought I hit just as good as I did yesterday,” Hull said. “I missed three or four 4-foot putts, but that was early in the round. I thought the greens were a little slow. The early putts were a little wet and slippery because of the rain we had just had, so that bothered me, but once I got over that, I got the strokes back and it was OK.”
First it rained Round 2But that didn’t last long, as the wind picked up a bit, but Hull didn’t deal with that well on Friday.
Vu was confident after two days of golf, and her short game looked strong through 36 holes.
“I’m happy with how I putted it in the hole,” Vu said, “creating a lot of birdie opportunities, and that’s what you need on this course. The hardest part is living with the wind and not going against it, but that’s what I’ve been trying to do.”
Vu recorded one birdie and one bogey in the first nine holes, then added two birdies on the seventh and ninth holes to close out the day. Two birdies in the final three holes seemed like a big confidence boost for the world number two.
I was already excited about the Women’s Open at the Old Course and then Charlie Hull posted this swing video from Road Hole.
I can’t wait to see it. pic.twitter.com/1QFZugisDC
— Gabby Herzig (@GabbyHerzig) August 20, 2024
It meant a lot to Halle to compete alongside the best player in the world and play well because it showed her game was in good shape.
She has yet to win a major championship, but she knows three strokes is no big deal, especially with 36 holes to play.
“Going into the weekend, especially on this golf course, it’s not a big deal,” Hull said. “I missed a lot of putts. I think Nelly had 30 putts and I had 36. So I’m talking about six putts on the green that I lost to her.”
“I feel like I can hit it just as well. She got a few more putts in the hole than I did today. Lilia [Vu] She’s another one to watch. When the wind picks up, she stays there. She’s a good scrambler.”
The Kettering, England native found herself in a similar situation at last year’s British Open, falling short to Vu. She has been waiting for her first major championship win and this year she seems to have proven what she can do and is growing in confidence.
Savannah Lee Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow us for more golf articles. Follow You can follow us on all major social platforms. You can also follow us on Twitter Follow Her Instagram account is @golf_girl_sl.
