Sarah Kemp’s timely return to form at Scottish Open
Sarah Kemp in action during the second round – image Octavia Passos Getty Images
New South Wales’ Sarah Kemp is by some margin the leading Australasian at the halfway mark of the Freed Group Women’s Scottish Open at the Dundonald Links on the Ayrshire Coast of Scotland, the 37-year-old tied for 3rd at 7 under par and although five shots from the leader, Hinako Shibuno, she is well placed heading into the weekend of the LPGA Tour event.
Kemp produced a run of three consecutive birdies over her closing nine holes to move into contention in the event which is a precursor to next week’s final major of the year, the AIG Women’s Open Championship.
When asked the reason for her improvement over a run of finishes which has seen her with a best of 28th and four missed cuts in her last six starts Kemp responded.
“Last week my coach from Australia (John Serhan) came in and watched me play. So probably a little bit of that. But I made a putter change a few weeks back, and my speed’s just been really good. I’ve got a good feel for some speed at the moment. So, a combination of those, I would say.”
Kemp is currently not in next week’s field at Walton Heath and knows what she needs to do to play her way into the field by finishing inside the top three this week and not otherwise exempt.
“Yeah, that’d be a great bonus. But, yeah, I’ve got a long way to go until I can get one of those spots. But, yeah, if I can keep up what I’m doing, I might have a shot.”
The leader, Shibuno of Japan, again showed her liking for British golf. The 24-year-old’s only LPGA Tour victory came at the 2019 AIG Women’s Open Championship at Woburn and while this venue is very different the timing of her return to form after missing five of her last six cuts.
Stephanie Kyriacou (30th) and Minjee Lee 53rd were the other Australians to make the weekend. Karis Davidson missing by one despite an eagle at the last.