The beginning of Lizette Salas’ second round at the AIG Women’s British Open was perfect. She birdied the first four holes at Woburn Golf Club to put herself near the top of the leaderboard. The birdie streak ended with a par at the fifth hole, and she followed that with 12 more pars and one more birdie. Her first-round 69 paired with her second-round 67 leaves Salas at eight-under for the tournament, tied for third and two behind leader Ashleigh Buhai.
Playing well in the majors has been the theme of Salas’ 2019 season. The 30-year-old from California finished T-17 at the ANA Inspiration, T-26 at the U.S. Women’s Open, T-5 at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and T-13 at the Evian Championship, the latter held last week. With those strong finishes, among others in non-majors, Salas is high enough on the Solheim Cup points list to look like a lock to make the team in 2019.
“The Evian was a good test last week, and I finished well there,” said Salas. “I’m coming in with a lot of confidence and just kind of owning that confidence and knowing that I can pull off shots and that I can make birdie from outside 20 feet.”
While Salas has found some comfort in her long-range putting, it’s her ball striking that is helping her consistently factor in the majors. She’s ranked seventh in driving accuracy on the LPGA, and missed just three greens on Friday. Salas credits her ball-striking success to taking time to visualize each shot and committing to that image.
Salas talked about the obvious excitement of being on the leader board of a major, but she also said that it takes a lot of energy both mentally and physically. As for the plan for the weekend, Salas is trying to make sure she gets the rest she needs and remains as steady as possible.
“Trying to stick to the game plan and not get too upset or too flustered out there,” said Salas. “There’s a lot of golf left.”
Salas has one tour victory, winning the 2014 Kingsmill Championship.