Jonathan Caldwell kicked his Scandinavian Mixed bid into gear with a superb five-under par 67 on day two of the innovative event hosted by Henrik Stenson & Annika Sorenstam.
The 37-year old fired seven birdies in-all, cutting a dash up the leaderboard to a tie for 24th at seven-under par. That leaves him six shots back of Caroline Hedwall who fired a brilliant round of 64 to become the first woman to hold the solo lead at a European Tour event on day two in Sweden.
Christine Wolf had matched the men on day one at Vallda Golf and Country Club and local favourite Hedwall carded the lowest round of the week so far in round two to get to 13-under and lead the way by one from Dutchman Joost Luiten. England’s Steven Brown and South Africa’s Darren Fichardt were then at 11 under.
But the day belonged to Hedwall, who carded two eagles – including a holed bunker shot – to go with five birdies and a single dropped shot. The Solheim Cup star has six Ladies European Tour victories to her name but is now right in the mix to become the first woman to lift a European Tour trophy.
“I was a bit lucky out there today,” she said. “I made two eagles and made a bunker shot – it was very enjoyable!
“The first eagle was on 16 and I hit two really good shots into the green and a good putt. Then on number six, I hit a fairly poor iron shot into the green bunker, but I feel fairly comfortable – yesterday I made a bunker shot there and hit a good one and I made another one today.
“If you look at the leaderboard, it looks like they have set it up pretty fair, but it’s hard to judge. I think looking at the mix of the players on the leaderboard, I think they have done a good job because it’s obviously tough. Hopefully, I get to play with Joost (Luiten) again, I really enjoyed playing with him the last couple of days. It is good being back in Sweden and I’m just going to try and enjoy myself.”
Slovenian Pia Babnik claimed her first win on the LET last week and should the 17-year-old make it back-to-back victories, she would become not only the European’s first female winner but also its youngest ever. She was at ten under alongside 20-year-old Australian Stephanie Kyriacou, Spaniard Pep Angles and Finn Kalle Samooja.
German pair Olivia Cowan and Sarina Schmidt, English duo Ashley Chesters and Alice Hewson, Scot David Drysdale and South African Jacques Kruyswijk were then at nine under.
Home favourite Henrik Stenson carded a 70 to sit at four under, while fellow tournament host Annika Sorenstam signed for a second consecutive 73 to miss the cut. Round three tee times have been brought forward to 6:50am from a two tee start U-draw due to inclement weather, with 71 players making the cut, 45 men and 26 women.
- Full scoring HERE
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