GUYANCOURT, France (Reuters) – Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux made a stunning start to the second round of the Olympic women’s golf competition on Thursday to overhaul home favourite Celine Boutier who had dominated the opening day.
The 27-year-old Swiss enjoyed two eagles and four birdies in a bogey-free front nine holes to reach 10 under par for the tournament. She began her back nine more slowly but recovered a first dropped shot to get back to 10 under after 14 holes.
Boutier, who cruised into a three-stroke overnight lead at seven under par thanks to some slick putting, started in steady fashion to reach eight under after 11 holes.
The women’s tournament follows the same format as the men’s contest won by American Scottie Scheffler last Sunday, with 60 participants competing in a 72-hole, stroke-play contest over four days at Le Golf National south of Paris.
Metraux is an Olympic debutant after choosing not to go to Tokyo while she was chasing a spot on the prestigious LPGA tour. Her sister Kim represented Switzerland three years ago alongside Albane Valenzuela, who is in Paris for her third Games.
Boutier received more loud backing from the French public as the world number seven and major winner pursued her bid to outdo Victor Perez, who fell just short of winning a medal for France as he finished fourth in the men’s competition.
South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai, second to Boutier after the first day, stayed in contention as she continued to play with a hole cut into her left shoe to ease discomfort in a toe she broke recently.
Buhai recovered from a setback at the opening hole when she hit the water and suffered a double bogey as four birdies mixed with another bogey left her at five under.
She was joined in joint third spot out on the course by New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, who is seeking to add a gold medal to the bronze she claimed in Tokyo and silver at Rio 2016.
After a level-par first round, Ko raced ahead with a bogey-free first 10 holes that featured five birdies.
India’s Diksha Dagar was in the hunt too. The left-hander who was in Tokyo and has also taken part in the Deaflympics, progressed to three under with two birdies.
Tokyo gold medallist Nelly Korda, the world number one, was one of the last players to tee off on Thursday.
The American bagged an early birdie to go one under as she looks to climb the leaderboard after a mixed opening day.
(Reporting by Gus Trompiz; editing by Ken Ferris)