Six-time LPGA Tour winner Nasa Hataoka followed up her opening, 1-under 70 with a 67 on Friday when Evian Resort Golf Club got the best of many in the 132-player field. But the LPGA Tour veteran made golf look easy on Friday at The Amundi Evian Championship. The 24-year-old fired a 4-under 67 in the second round, making three birdies on the front nine and three birdies on the back nine with only two blemishes on scorecard. While the birdies were nice, Hataoka felt like recording six fewer putts on day two made the difference.
"I think (I) improved my putting from yesterday, better than yesterday," said Hataoka, who improved to 26 putts on day two after needing 32 on day one. "My bad stroke is short takeaway and hit sometimes really hard or really short. So I (was) trying to get longer takeaway and good acceleration."
The Japan native said her most memorable birdie came on the par-3, 16th hole, where she hit her tee shot to the upper level, leaving herself a "quick putt" for birdie.
Making her fourth start in the Amundi Evian Championship, Hataoka thinks the greens are playing much softer than last year, allowing her the opportunity to be more aggressive and attack the pins. But Hataoka said she still needed to "hit good putts. It's because green is softer and a little bumpy. It was good today."
Currently sitting in a tie for fourth at 5-under and two back of the lead, Hataoka has remained positive through 36 holes on the challenging Champions Course but admits she has a few things to work on heading into the weekend as she looks to hunt down her first major title.
"My swing is feeling still off, so I need to find something, one key on the range. Same thing on putting," explained Hataoka. "Now, in the takeaway, less face rotation. Sometimes I do a lot of rotation, so I'm trying to (do) less rotation and keep my hands higher. This is my fourth time (playing) this tournament and (it’s a) really challenging golf course, but I'm really enjoying here."
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