Pressel's 65 raises hopes of first victory since 2008

[September 12, 2015]  PARIS (Reuters) - Morgan Pressel, chasing her second major win and first victory in seven years, moved within one shot of the lead after firing the lowest score of the day in the Evian Championship second round in Haute Savoie on Friday.

The American posted a six-under-par 65 to climb into second spot behind South Korean Lee Mi-hyang who carded a 67 for 133, nine under, in the final women's major of the year.

Dane Nicole Broch Larsen, winner of last week's Helsingborg Open in Sweden, was in third position on 135 after a 67.

Pressel has made 170 tournament appearances since she last triumphed at the 2008 Kapalua LPGA Classic.

"It's hard to nit-pick but I didn't hit my driver as well

on the front nine as I would have liked so there are certainly things that I can improve on," she told reporters.

"But I feel like mentally I stayed tough and battled through and made some birdies even after hitting poor drives."

Pressel will be a member of the 12-strong United States team in next week's Solheim Cup match against holders Europe at St Leon-Rot in Germany.

World number one Park In-bee returned a 69 for 141.

(Writing by Tony Jimenez,; Editing by Pritha Sarkar)

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