“I'm the kind of person to overthink” - Perrine Delacour on keeping nerves at Portland Classic amid struggle with mental health

Perrine Delacour is leading the 2023 Portland Classic. The 29-year-old French golfer held onto her early lead on Friday with another bogey-free round at Columbia Edgewater. She carded a 5-under 67 in perfect conditions after opening with a 63 in the rain on Thursday.

Despite her recent struggles with mental health problems, Delacour seems to be dealing with the pressure of being at the top of the leaderboard well. Following her round two outing, she came out to reveal that it’s “not easy” dealing with the mental pressure. She dubbed herself a person who overthinks scenarios and said she just tried to stay patient throughout her playing time.

Opening up about the mental pressure and managing her game at the Portland Classic, Perrine Delacour said, as quoted by LPGA:

"I just kept patient. I mean, of course, coming from a leader on the first day, shooting 9 under, you know you're not going to shoot twice 9 under… I'm the kind of person to overthink. So, the goal is I'm going to do some stuff to keep my head busy and not thinking about golf.

Speaking about her bout with mental health, the 29-year-old added:

“I’ve been struggling but it is what it is. I’ve been more and more happy to talk and I’ve been talking more and more to people and not being scared about it, but it’s not easy.”

It is pertinent to note that Perrine Delacour is winless on the LPGA Tour. The golfer has had five top-10s in 11 seasons, with her career-best third-place finish in the 2020 Women's Australian Open.

Having taken a one-stroke lead over Linn Grant into the weekend at the Columbia River, Delacour will be eyeing her maiden win on Sunday.

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Perrine Delacour on playing under wet weather conditions at the Portland Classic

While Perrine Delacour seems confident about her game, the weather conditions at Portland Classic don’t seem favorable at all. Golfers, including the event leader had a wet greens start to the tournament.

Teeing off with non-stop rain and temperatures in the low 60s, Delacour stated that her main goal was to get her clubs dry.

Commenting on the far-from-ideal weather at the Columbia Edgewater Macan Course, the Frenchwoman was quoted as saying by the LPGA Tour:

“We knew it was going to be wet, so my main goal was to try to get my club as dry as we can, which we did pretty good with my caddie. I played solid. I hit 16 greens, and when I was missing them I was pretty easy up and down."

Perrine Delacour later added that the weather was nicer on Friday, but her bag was wet from Thursday. She also noted that it was “definitely nicer to be in shorts and polos” instead of rain gear.