With two rounds now completed, Céline Boutier has single-handedly taken control of the major. Despite tricky conditions and challenging pin positions, she maintained a superb level of play watched by a home crowd who came out in droves to cheer on their cherished ambassador. In fact, hundreds of people showed support for the Frenchwoman throughout the afternoon. Behind the world number 15, two players are tied for second place: Patty Tavatanakit and Yuka Saso.

Céline Boutier comfortable on home territory, Brooke Henderson still holding her own

Hitting 14 greens in regulation, four birdies and two bogeys, the French number one was in stunning form this afternoon at Évian. In blazing sunshine and a tricky wind, she carded a 69(-2) on the back of an opening 66(-5), which bodes well for the rest of the tournament. This is her seventh appearance at The Amundi Evian Championship, but the first time she has led the field after the qualifying rounds. She not only displayed excellent putting skills – at holes 13 and 16 for example – but also managed her long game flawlessly, consistently playing the right areas, exactly as she did yesterday morning. Céline was also on the front page of Golf Magazine this month. This issue, in which a dozen or so contributors shared their memories with the former Paris Country Club player, was headlined “En route vers les sommets” (or En route to the top). Good timing or a remarkable coincidence? We’ll find out this weekend!

A few minutes after completing her round with a final birdie on hole 18, Céline shared her thoughts on her round: “It was pretty windy out there today and we also had to wait around quite a bit, so it wasn’t easy to keep up the pace. I played quite well and I’m happy with my second day. It’s really great to have so many people behind me. I’ll be resting this evening to be ready for tomorrow.”

A little further down the leaderboard, defending champion Brooke Henderson continues her title defence. With two rounds carded at 69(-2) and 70(-1), she finished the first 36 holes three shots under par, four behind Céline Boutier. There will no doubt be greater anticipation surrounding French player, but Brooke also has the potential to accomplish something remarkable here. It’s been a few years now since a player retained her title at a major. In fact, we need to go all the way back the 2015 US Open when Inbee Park clinched her third straight win.


Patty Tavatanakit hangs on, as does Yuka Saso

After a great first round of 69(-2), which finished badly with a triple bogey at 16, Patty Tavatanakit didn’t seem to be affected by the disappointing end to that round and has bounced back perfectly. At 23 years old, she seems already to have the mindset and pugnacity to make herself at home amongst the elite. It’s even more admirable on her part to have so quickly put behind her the misfortune as she had never made the cut here, in two participations. After a bogey at 11 on her second hole, the former UCLA member (California, USA) birdied time and again, just as she did yesterday, to finish her Friday with a remarkable 67(-4), the best score of the day.

Having got off to a bad start on her second round, Yuka Saso also hung on and finished her Friday with a card of 69(-2). Originating from the Philippines, the 22-year-old player demonstrated her strength of character after a double bogey on 1 followed by a bogey on 2. At 3 over par on the 6^th tee, she proceeded to put things in order. Six birdies for one little bogey over her last 13 holes and she finds herself in 2^nd place ready to kick off moving day.

Snippets of news

• The finest performance of the week goes to the Norwegian Céline Borge. For her very first appearance at Evian, the newcomer on the LPGA Tour is in 8th place, four strokes behind the leader. The player who was playing in the European second divison four years ago continues to climb the ladder rung by rung.
• Bullseye alert! Armed with her pitching wedge, the American and member of the Callaway team Emma Talley played a hole-in-one on one of the signature holes of the Evian Resort Golf Club course, the par-3 2^nd hole. She was followed at the end of the day by the young 18-year-old amateur Saki Baba, who herself wowed the crowd still present in the stalls at hole 16, with a wonderful 9 iron straight into the hole.

- Not up to her usual standards, the South Korean and lady of the house Hyo Joo Kim makes it into her 9^th weekend at Evian in as many participations. 1 over par on aggregate, the 2014 winner will still need to do better to be in with a hope of claiming a 7^th Top-20 finish. She is currently 28^th.

- Among the French players, besides Céline Boutier, Pauline Roussin just makes the cut with 2 rounds of 73, +4 in total. However, the adventure stops here for Céline Herbin and Perrine Delacour.

- For her birthday, Nelly Korda shot 73(+2). Placed on 1 over par after the first two rounds, the American is in the Top-30 and will be one to keep an eye on this weekend. Just ahead of her in the Women’s Rolex Rankings, world number 1 Jin-Young Ko is in 12^th place after carding two rounds of 70(-1).