Trump misses cut despite improvement on LPGA debut
Kai Trump carded four birdies in her second round
- Published
Annika second round leaderboard
-9 L Grant (Swe), G Kim (Aus); -8 H Ryu (Kor), J Kupcho (US); -7 G Lopez (Mex)
Selected others: -6 N Korda (US), C Ciganda (Spa); -5 C Hull (Eng), E Henseleit (Ger); -1 L Maguire (Ire); +5 L Thompson (US); +18 K Trump (US)
Kai Trump missed the cut on her LPGA debut after a five-over 75 left her on 18 over par overall at the Annika tournament in Florida.
The 18-year-old amateur, who is the granddaughter of US President Donald Trump, was last in the 108-player field at the end of the second round.
Trump, who was competing as a sponsor exemption at Pelican Golf Club, did make a significant improvement on the 83 she signed for on Thursday, when she drew large galleries and struggled with nerves.
She made birdies on the third, seventh, 11th and 12th after almost sinking an eight iron from 140 yards for what would have been her maiden hole-in-one.
"For the first day I was definitely really nervous. I think the nerves just got to me," Trump said.
"When I went out there today I felt very calm and peaceful to be honest with you. That's why I played better."
While she also made par on the daunting 18th hole for the second consecutive day there were several challenging moments including a triple-bogey seven on the par-four fifth.
"Things are going to happen. Once it happens you can't go back in time and fix it," added Trump, whose mother Vanessa dates 15-time men's major champion Tiger Woods.
"The best thing I could do is move on. Like I told my caddie, Allan [Kournikova], kind of just started laughing. It is what it is. We got that out of the way, so let's just move on. It was pretty easy to move on after that."
Trump, who has committed to playing for the University of Miami next year, has played only three events this term.
She is also ranked number 461 in the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) rankings yet was still able to make a big impression, averaging 241 yards off the tee and finding 11 of 14 fairways.
"That's really good, considering this is not just an easy LPGA event, this is probably one of the harder courses that we play on," said England's Charley Hull, who played three groups ahead of Trump.
Hull, who has had visa and sickness issues in the build-up to the tournament, is at five under overall and sits four strokes adrift of joint leaders Linn Grant and Grace Kim.
World number two Nelly Korda is in a five-way tie for sixth at six under par alongside the likes of Spain's Carlota Ciganda, after firing a seven-under 63 on Friday.