Georgia Hall continuing her rise to LPGA stardom at Evian Championship

Rookie Georgia Hall looks poised to make history at the Evian Championship and sits just two off the lead as she goes for her second straight major title.

It was just a month ago that Georgia Hall first made a name for herself on the LPGA Tour. Now she is two rounds away from making history.

Hall, the 22-year-old Englishwoman, shot a second straight three-under round of 68 at the Evian Championship on Friday and sits just two shots off the lead going to the weekend. She made four birdies on the day, including a lengthy putt at the par-three eighth, her 17th.

Back in August, Hall, in her rookie season on the LPGA, won the Ricoh Women’s British Open. Not only was it her first major championship, it was also her first win as a professional.

A win at the Evian Resort in France this week would make her only the second golfer, along with Se Ri Pak, to win back-to-back majors as a rookie since the LPGA’s inaugural year in 1950. She would also become just the third, including Pak and In Gee Chun, to have their first two wins as a professional come at a major.

Hall says her goal on Friday was to continue the steady play she began in the first round. “I liked to have shot kind of the same as yesterday,” she told LPGA.com after the round, “or bit better. Yeah, I’m quite happy with the way I played, and I was very steady. It wasn’t that stressful for me out there today. So, yeah, I was pleased with my score.”

Since her win at the British Open, Hall finished runner-up at the Cambia Portland Classic two weeks ago. She now has three top 10s in her last five starts on tour, and has climbed all the way to eighth in the world rankings. She finished tied for 10th at the Evian Championship last year.

She looks poised to better that result this time, and says she is happy with where she stands after 36 holes. “I want to be leading, but as long as I’m kind of up there on the final day, then I think 18 holes is a lot of golf,” she said.

Four players share the lead at eight-under after the second round. First round co-leader Maria Torres of Puerto Rico followed up her opening 65 with a two-under 69, while American Amy Olson made seven birdies in a six-under round of 65. Fellow American Mo Martin shot 66 to grab a share of the lead, while Mi Hyang Lee holed out from a greenside bunker for eagle at the ninth, her final hole, to also tie.