Bellaire, Fla. – French player Perrin Delacour put herself in prime position through two rounds at Pelican Golf Club, carding rounds of 67 and 65 to sit in fourth place with 8-under 36 holes on the Cainbridge-powered Annika. In Pelican. He made five birdies and two bogeys on Thursday at Bellaire, Fla., followed that up with a bogey-free round on Friday en route to posting his second-lowest 36-hole total on the LPGA. Tour.
No. Starting his day on 10, Delacourt picked up an early birdie on the par-3 12th hole and grabbed another on the 16th to move to 5-under overall. After 33, he started his final nine with four consecutive pars. The 29-year-old then rattled off two more birdies on holes 7 and 9 to post a 65 and move four shots back from the second-round lead held by Emily Christine Pedersen.
It’s the first time Delacour has started with back-to-back rounds in the 60s since the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G, a total of four times she’s done this season, and the first time since the weekend at the BMW Ladies Championship that she’s posted back-to-back rounds in the 60s in any capacity. It was the first time the two-time Epson Tour winner had a round of 65 or better since Delacour’s 63 on the first day of the Portland Classic, and the ninth bogey-free round of the 2023 LPGA Tour season.
Delacour is currently ranked 54th in the CME Globe race, and despite knowing how unlikely it is for him to lose his top-60 finish to qualify for the CME Group Tour Championship, he still had a solid week at The. Cainbridge-driven Annika at Pelican and building some momentum ahead of her second appearance at Tiburon Golf Club.
„The chances of me getting out of CME were pretty slim, to be honest, so I preferred my position to the guys behind me,” said Delacour, who is currently projected to move from 54th in the rankings to 48th. „But you don’t know golf. It’s not just you, it’s other people. Of course, it feels good to make the cut. Playing CME, it’s my second time, so when I look at where I was a year ago, now, I’m like, wow, well, it’s great. .I am proud of myself.
The Frenchwoman finished the 2022 season 98th in the Race to CME Globe point standings, 38 places outside of qualifying for the CME Group Tour Championship and just two places inside the top 100. . She has made the most of her opportunities this year, recording seven top-20 finishes, including a career-best ninth-place finish at the Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play presented by MGM Rewards.
But things weren’t always this stress-free and easy for Delacour.
She has struggled with her mental health in recent seasons, taking extended breaks from LPGA Tour competition as needed to mentally recover from the stresses of being a professional athlete. While some players hide their off-course struggles and deal with their challenges privately, Delacour has been very open and honest about what he’s been through. Last two years.
„Actually, because I’m a person who doesn’t like to put on a mask, it helps me a lot to open up to people about it. In Korea, after two rounds, I was really struggling, and then I opened up and started talking to my caddy and started talking to the players about it,” Delacour said. . “I, you are not the only one who cried in class. I was crying and shot the under 12s at the weekend. So, the more I talk to people, the better I feel at playing. I am like that. I am open minded and if some people want to talk about it I am more than happy to help them and improve them.
As she prepares for a weekend of competition in the Cainbridge-operated Annika at Pelican, Delacourt will continue to work to keep her mind in check as she looks for another chance to capture her first win. No matter what happens, Delacour is determined not to be too hard on herself, especially given how much she’s grown and accomplished since last season, both on and off the golf course.
„As a golfer, you always want the best, and that’s hard at times,” Delacour said. „I have a good team around me and they always say, look at where you were a year ago and where you are now. That really helps me. Well, I made a big step. You always want it to go faster, but That’s it.
„At the end of the day, it’s just golf. I don’t care. I was actually on vacation last week and it was the first time everybody (saw) me as a non-golfer. When I started saying I play golf, you could see people looking at me differently. Mainly, My goal is to look at myself as a golfer, who cares how you play, at the end of the day, everyone loves you.