Kemp walks home with an eagle bird finish

Sarah Kemp on the 8th green on Friday at the Evian championship.

No one stopped Sarah Kemp making her first major part of the year at the Evian Championship on Friday.

The Sydneysider made the first eagle of the week on a par-4 by leaving the fairway at 17, before placing an exclamation mark on her second round 2-under-69 with a birdie on the par-5 as the last.

Kemp is joined on 1-under before the tournament by Katherine Kirk, that duo leading the Australian attack to the penultimate weekend of the year.

They are currently nine at the back of outright leader Mi Hyang Lee, but with some wild weather for the next 48 hours, some solid wave can quickly close that gap.

"I was a few on the sidelines and thought I just needed another one, maybe at 18 with the T-piece a bit today," Kemp said.

"At 17, I just hit it in the corner and hit a 50-degree wedge there.

"I couldn't see the pin and I didn't know it went in until the people went crazy there.

"Then at 18, a 5-lumber is not easy from that fairway with that lie, the ball under your feet, but I said," Let's do it. "

Kemp & # 39; s incredible fourteen days in Barwon Heads and Adelaide in February earned its start in all four majors of the year so far – and a ticket to next week's AIG Women & # 39; s British Open.

And while the 33-year-old didn't cash a check in one of the first three, her blitz arrived at the perfect time on Friday afternoon in the final sob for crucial Race To CME Globe points.

"I have been in the area, I played pretty well in the team event last week with my partner Janet," Kemp said.

"I just need more of the same stuff on the weekend, I hit the ball well. Lots of fairways, lots of greens. Maybe a few more putts would be fun."

The road from Countrywoman Kirk to the weekend has been moderately routine, the Queenslansder supported opening 70 yesterday with an even-par 71 today.

Eight pars and a nice up and down from a birdie bunker on the par-5 15th was exactly what the doctor ordered on the way home.

"I thought I was actually playing a little better today, I just didn't make any putts," Kirk said.

“Only one of those days, so I'm happy where I am. The bogeys I made were in fact because I missed the fairways,

"It wasn't easy there, I don't think you'll see crazy low scores today.

As for the approaching weather, Kirk believes that finding the short grass of the tee will be even more important as the expected storms roll over Lake Geneva.

"The greens are likely to become a little softer so that we might be more aggressive that way," Kirk said.

"The rough is already stingy so the key is going to hit fairways this weekend because we are already betting."

For the second consecutive day, Su Oh bogey made the 1st – the hardest gap so far this week – but a roller coaster second round ended in the Victorian assured of a Saturday tee time.

Oh, a 2-under-69 second round returned to be 1-over for the tournament, an improvement of five strokes compared to yesterday's efforts.

But the Victorian brialliantly responded with three birdies in her next four holes, including an inch-perfect 20-footer on the par-3 5th.

Six straight pars followed before Oh endangered her weekend in Evian and made bogeys on 12 and the par-3 14th.

But the World No.84 found the par-5 15th green in two and coolly cooled her way to the little bird before she managed to get the par-5 with another birdie.

"I didn't really hit the ball very well this week," Oh said.

"The rugged is so thick, so when you hit it, it's almost like a chip-out.

“The leaderboard is packed, so one shot makes a big difference. Because I was around the cutting line for so long, I couldn't waste a single shot.

"There are a few par-5 & # 39; s on the back nine, so I was like" let's just buy one more "."

***

Earlier in the day, Minjee Lee made his way back to 2-over for the tournament on the back of birdies at the 4th and 8th holes to be just within the projected cutting line.

But the Western Australian gave one back with a bogey at 10 o'clock before her week effectively ended on Friday's most difficult hole, the downhill par-3 14th.

Lee & # 39; s tee-shot settled halfway down the bank at the back of the green and she was unable to limit the damage on the wrong side of the extreme back through the center of the green.

The five-fold LPGA Tour winner took a double bogey five but fought hard to pull back a blow with birdie at 17.

Lee was the last person to need a birdie with the par-5 and after lying down she let herself fall eight feet under the hole for a four. Her putt drifted past and that interrupted all hope of making the weekend.

"Before that I played pretty solid, but things happen," Lee said.

“If you are going to produce such large numbers on not too hard holes, it will not help your score. It is what it is. "

Next week's AIG Ladies British Open marks Lee & # 39; s ninth tournament in 11 weeks and her fourth in a row.

The last major of the year is back in Woburn for the first time since 2016. Lee finished T25 that year as a 20-year-old.

"It's more like a tree-lined golf course, so it's not really a traditional left-style golf course," Lee said.

"Some rest will help, but some practice will also."

The game was suspended on Friday afternoon at 4.45 pm local time due to the threat of lightning.