Morgane Metraux produced a 59 watch and endured an official watch in a wildly dichotomous second round of the Olympic women’s golf competition.
The 27-year-old Swiss golfer made eight 3s over her opening nine holes at Le Golf National on Thursday, but her group was put on the clock around the turn. With official Mark Litton keeping a close eye on the group — and on his stopwatch — throughout the back nine, Metraux made three bogeys and one birdie coming home to card a 66.
And, fortunately for her, there were no penalties assessed — at least not from an official. Metraux hit her second shot into the water at the par-5 18th en route to a dropped shot. After reaching 10 under at one point, she finished at minus-8, one clear of China's Ruoning Yin (65).
Metraux, a third-year LPGA player, began the second round trailing France’s Celine Boutier by five. She then birdied the first, eagled the par-5 third and birdied Nos. 4-6. She added another eagle at the par-5 ninth for an 8-under 28. The only ‘4’ she recorded over her opening nine was at the par-4 seventh.
"I was really calm. I knew my game is in a good spot, and I was rolling it well," she said after her round. "It was actually surprisingly very calm starting the round."
But while she had stormed into first place, she wasn’t moving at a rapid enough pace.
Metraux’s group, which include Spain’s Azahara Munoz and the Philippines’ Bianca Pagdanganan, was put on the clock after the front nine. After three pars to start her inward half, Metraux recorded her first bogey of the day at the 13th. She bounced back with a birdie at the par-5 14th but made another bogey at the 15th.
Following back-to-back pars at Nos. 16 and 17, Metraux thinned an iron from 162 yards into the water fronting the green. The final bogey gave her nines of 28-38 for her 66.
"You know, it’s in the back of your mind. I know I don’t have to rush a ton to be fine with the time, so I try not to think about it too much," Metraux told NBC Sports' Rex Hoggard. "But, of course, it impacts a little bit. I don’t think it impacted my game. I just wasn’t quite hitting the shots as good as I wanted all of the time like I did on the front nine."
Is this Morgane Metraux's first Olympics?
Yes. She qualified for the Tokyo Games, which were contested in 2021 because of the COVID pandemic, but she opted out in order to focus on her professional career. At the time, she was competing on the LPGA's developmental tour (currently known as the Epson Tour), which provided her pathway to the primary circuit. Metraux's replacement on the Swiss team was her older sister, Kim, who is currently a professional on the Ladies European Tour.
How many wins does Morgane Metraux have?
Metraux, from Lausanne, Switzerland, has two wins on the Ladies European Tour (including one this year in France) and one win on the Epson Tour. She has not yet won on the LPGA, where she is in her third full season. After finishing 89th on the season-long points list each of the last two years, she is currently 96th (the top 100 earn/retain member for the following year). Her best finish is a T-4 at the Pelican Women's Championship in Nov. 2021. That is one of four career top-10 finishes for Metraux.