After starting strong with a solid 2-under 70 on Thursday at Galgorm Castle Golf Club, West Chester, Ohio native Marissa Steen carded a 1-under 72 at Castlerock Golf Club on Friday to sit near the top of the leaderboard heading into the weekend at the ISPS Handa World Invitational presented by AVIV Clinics. She began the day with five straight pars before breaking through with a birdie on the par-4 6th hole, parring 7, 8 and 9 to turn in 35.
The 33-year-old stumbled with a pair of bogeys on holes 11 and 13 to drop back to 1-over on the day, but recovered late, grabbing birdies on the par-5 15th and par-4 18th hole to get to 3-under overall and hold the first 36-hole lead/co-lead of her career. It’s the first time since the 2021 ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer that Steen has opened with two rounds in the red and it’s the first time since the Dana Open that she has recorded back-to-back under-par rounds this season. Considering the challenging conditions and the variables that come with playing a links-style golf course, Steen was proud of how she was able to manage her way around Castlerock Golf Club and is looking forward to playing just her sixth weekend of the 2023 LPGA Tour season.
“Really my main goal going into today was just to stay patient,” said Steen, who hit 10 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens on day two. “Out here on this links course, it's just so much more exposed. That was all I was saying, was just stay patient. It's not going to play easy for anyone. I started on the front, so my first five holes were dead into the wind. I was pretty happy to be even through that stretch. Yeah, and hung tough. Luckily made a long putt on the last, which I always joke will make lunch taste a little bit better.”
Steen became an LPGA Tour Member in 2015 after finishing first in the Race for the Card on the Epson Tour and has earned three top-10 finishes in her nine-year career. She has three professional victories that all came on the Epson Tour in 2014. The Ohioan played collegiate golf at the University of Memphis, winning six titles during her time as a Tiger, and was named an NGCA All-American Scholar four times. In addition to competing on Tour, she currently serves as an assistant coach for the University of Cincinnati women’s golf team.
With just a handful of events left in the 2023 LPGA Tour season, Steen is currently 110th in the Race to the CME Globe and will need a big push late in the year to both qualify for the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, which features the top 60 players on the CME points list, as well as secure full status for next season. With a good performance this week, she could easily vault inside the top 100 and will have plenty of chances in upcoming events to stay there. But for now, Steen is just riding this good momentum for as long as it will last and will continue working to chase down her first LPGA Tour victory throughout the next 36 holes in Northern Ireland.
“It's been good. I feel like I've put some good weeks together so far. My game feels really close,” said Steen. “I was bummed to not make the AIG last week, but I had some good time to work on my golf game. It feels good to see that paying off this week as well. I feel like my game has been pretty solid. Maybe not put it all together at exactly the right time, but things feel good. I've been rolling it really well on the greens, which is obviously a huge confidence booster. Just want to take the same mentality I had the first two rounds through the weekend.”
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