Despite a tough second round, Olivia Mehaffey made the cut at the Joburg Ladies Open on the Ladies European Tour, but she will need to produce something special to claim the win at Modderfontein Golf Club.
The Tandragee woman struggled to a five-over 78 on day two, featuring two birdies, five bogeys and two double-bogeys, to drop down to five-over for the week, but with the cut sliding back to six-over she made it in with a shot to spare.
However, she reaches the halfway stage ten shots off the lead, held by Linn Grant and first round leader Maria Hernandez, meaning she is likely playing for pride over the weekend.
Mehaffey will need to cut out the mistakes in her final two rounds, too, with Modderfontein showing its teeth on Friday to send the former Arizona State star plummeting down the leaderboard. Her front nine had been been so promising, too, three birdies and two bogeys taking her to one-under for the tournament, but her form dipped after the turn and she scrambled just to make the cut.
A bogey at the 10th was followed by double-bogeys at the 12th and 14th, and two more bogeys at the 16th and 17th gave her a nervy wait as the afternoon starters completed their rounds to decide the cut, but fortunately it fell in her favour.
She will need the leaders to come back to her over the final two days but it looks like that might be optimistic as Grant fired an impressive four-under 69 and Hernandez a one-under 71 to take the lead at five-under-par.
The pair’s lead is one over England’s Alice Hewson and Switzerland’s Kim Metraux, who carded rounds of 70 and 68 respectively on Friday, with a group of three players a shot further back at three-under.
- Full scoring HERE
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