Hannah Darling hopes fishing will help her hook Augusta National Women's Amateur title

Scot has to ‘grind’ out second-round score but is still in contention heading into closing circuit

Hannah Darling signs an autograph for a young spectator after finishing round two of the Augusta National Women's Amateur at Champions Retreat Golf Club in Georgia. Picture: Chloe Knott/Augusta National

Hannah Darling, the Scottish No 1, is hoping that some Friday fishing can help her hook a fairytale victory in the fifth edition of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur this weekend.

After setting the first-round space with a six-under-par 66, the 20-year-old Broomieknowe player had to “grind” out a 77 in the second circuit at Champions Retreat in Evans, which is located 12 miles from Augusta.

It wasn’t what Darling had been hoping for after carding a record eight birdies on the opening day, but, at the same time, she wasn’t alone in finding it difficult in cool and windy conditions in Georgia.

English player Lottie Woad is the new leader after recovering from an opening double-bogey 6 to card cover her last ten holes in four-under-par and sign for a 71 as she moved to five under.

But, sitting just four shots off the pace in joint-fifth, Darling is still very much in contention heading into Saturday’s closing circuit at Augusta National, where all the players, even though the top 30 and ties are still actually involved in the tournament, get to play a practice round on Friday.

“It was a grind and I think we did that well,” said Darling, who tied for 27th on her debut in the event in 2022 before missing out on the final round by a single shot 12 months ago. “I wouldn't say that I played any worse today than I did yesterday. Putts dropped yesterday; putts didn't drop today. The conditions made everything look a lot worse today.

“It was pretty tough. I mean, me and my caddie just kept saying, you know, pick a really smart target, pick a really good number, and hit a really committed shot to that. Whatever happens from there happens. I don't think we really hit that many bad golf shots today but I hit a lot of shots that were made to look bad by the wind. But I'm hitting it good. Onto the next day.”

Starting at the tenth, Darling made a solid start with two pars before dropping shots at 12th, 15th, 16th and 18th. The University of South Carolina junior then bogeyed the first before picking up her only birdie of the day at the par-5 third but then gave that shot back at the sixth.

“I’m just looking at the big picture,” she added. “I'm hitting it pretty good and have been for a while. So keeping the confidence high. There is no reason for the confidence to drop. We're still right there.”

Woad holds a two-shot lead over American duo Gianna Clemente (71) and Maisie Filler (73), with Darling in a big group that also includes world No 1 Ingrid Lindblad after the Swede recovered from a shaky start to keep her hopes alive by covering her last 13 holes in level par.

“I expect to go and have a lot of fun,” said Darling of heading to Augusta National. “Me and my caddie and my parents and some of my teammates are going to come along tomorrow and then Saturday, so we're just going to go have fun and try to experience this together and have a good time. That's what it's all about.”

Asked how she intended to try and relax, she said: “I've got two fishing rods in the back of my car at the hotel and there is a big pond close to our hotel that I saw people fishing at the other day. I might go fish a little bit and just take a little bit of time off, just get my focus on something else.”