Salonen and Blomroos now tied in second place
July 22, 2017 by Alex Colucci in Recap with 0 comments
Half of the season’s third PDGA Major is in the books, and Catrina Allen has widened her lead slightly at the European Open. Her 977-rated, 1-over par 65 round moved her total to a 5-over par 133 as she attempts to claim her second career European Open win and first Major title since 2015.
Not far off Allen’s pace are Eveliina Salonen and Henna Blomroos, who are tied in second place with 8-over par 136s. Blomroos’s 970-rated, 2-over par 66 moved her one spot up from third, while Salonen’s 3-over par 67 was the third best round thrown in the field. Two-time European Open champion Valarie Jenkins rounds out the top four after 36 holes, her 7-over par 71 day moving her total to a 14-over par 142.
Allen’s second round started just like her first, with a bogey on hole 1. But unlike Thursday, the bogey didn’t carry over, and she instead erased the added stroke immediately with a green hit and birdie on hole 2. Allen went on to finish out the front nine at 1-over par, making all of her inside the circle putts in the process.
The momentum stuck with Allen to start the back half, too. She began by hitting the green and birdieing holes 10 and 13. She finally missed her first putt of the round on hole 14, though, resulting in her third bogey. After a string of pars, Allen ended the round with her only out-of-bounds penalty stroke and a bogey on hole 18. Her 88-percent putting rate was the best in the field during round two.
Blomroos’ strong performance began with the first of three green hits she would collect on the day – which matched Allen for the lead the field in that category — and a birdie on the first hole. She added another deuce on hole 8 after inside the three-meter bullseye to finish the front nine at even par.
Blomroos started the back nine by picking up her first and only out-of-bounds stroke of the day, then followed with her first missed putt. She quickly rebounded with another bullseye hit and birdie on hole 14 before her bid for the hot round was cut short by a double bogey on the hole 15.
Salonen had a relatively less eventful second round while holding her second place spot. The young Finnish pro completed the front nine at 2-over par, with her two bogeys coming from two missed putts inside the circle. Her seven pars on the front half were all completed with tap-in putts from inside the bullseye.
Salonen started off the back nine with out-of-bounds penalties on each of the first two holes, the second of which resulted in her third bogey. She snagged her only green hit on hole 14 and converted it for her lone birdie on the day, and she would have finished out the day in sole possession of second had she stayed in bounds on the final hole.
Jenkins also struggled on 18, carding a bogey to close out her second round and drop eight strokes back of the second place tie. Jenkins recorded five bogeys, one double bogey, two out-of-bounds penalties, and no green hits as The Beast gnashed its notorious teeth.
Despite the struggles for Salonen and Jenkins on the final hole, hole 18 played as the 14th most difficult during the round, as opposed to its round one ranking as the most difficult. After coming in as the third most difficult hole in round one, hole 3 got the honors as the most challenging in round two, with the 263-meter par 5 coming in with an average stroke count of 6.2.
The women’s lead card tees off at 8:00 a.m. local time Saturday.
