Irish amateur Canice Screene continues to be a major talking point after round two of the LET’s Lalla Aicha Q-School Final Qualifier as she backed up her opening 68 with a second-round 70 to sit one shot off the lead at -7.
One of five Irish women in the field, Screene recorded her first ever competitive bogey-free round on the Al Maaden Course on Monday but any hopes of making it back-to-back bogey-free rounds ended on her fourth hole – the 13th – on the Royal Course.
It was perhaps a blessing in disguise as she responded with back-to-back birdies to get into ed figures for the day and moved to -2 with another birdie on the par-5 17th.
A fast start to the front nine saw her birdie the first to move to -8 overall, but after seven successive pars, she’ll be disappointed to have signed off with a bogey on the par-3 ninth that cost her a share of the 36-hole lead. Still, she’s in excellent position to be placed in the top 65 and ties after 72 holes which would guarantee Category 19 status at the very least for 2025.
“It’s just so different at this course,” said Screene. “I think visually is the biggest thing. I was trying to remind myself it’s not as tight as it looks, it just looks a lot worse. But actually, I pretty much hit most fairways, I just didn’t hole as many putts today. It’s tough, the courses are just so different, so adjusting is hard.
“I’m really happy. I’m hitting the ball nicely and when the putts go in, the scores have been low. I’m just going to try and keep doing the same thing and hopefully, more putts will roll in tomorrow.
“I was more nervous about coming here [to Royal] just because this was so different. Noria and Al Maaden are kind of similar, then coming here, it was so different. But I’m a lot less threatened now after playing it today because I think I realize it’s just all in your head. It looks so narrow, but it isn’t. I definitely feel a bit more relaxed in the next two rounds.”
Sara Byrne also finds herself in excellent position at -5, though she too suffered a late setback. Byrne was tackling the Al Maaden Course on day two and began in fine fashion by birdieing the 10th – her first – and bookended the nine with another birdie on 18. A bogey on the par-3 fourth was a minor blip, but further birdies on four and six got her to seven-under, only for a double on the par-4 eighth to send her tumbling down to tied 13th position.
Still, she’s well on course to make the 72-hole cut and have an effective free roll of the dice in Friday’s fifth and final round.
Annabel Wilson had the low round of the day from an Irish perspective as the Castlerock rookie pro made six birdies in a bogey-free effort at Al Maaden that lifts her to -3 overall and into a tie for 23rd.
Anna Foster had a rollercoaster start to her round, making four birdies in the first five holes on the Royal Course, but then ran into a double-bogey six on the sixth. She hit back with another birdie on the eighth, but dropped two shots on the way home and joins Wilson on -3 and in 23rd place.
Olivia Mehaffey has it all to do over rounds three and four after a 78 on the Royal Course left her on +6 overall and sharing 119th place.
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