Lauren Walsh was pleased with her solid second round at the Ladies European Tour Pre-Qualifier in Marrakech which maintained her position through 36 holes and within touching distance of next week’s Final Qualifier.
Walsh backed up her rollercoaster opening round of 69 with a boring two-under 71 to move to six-under-par overall and in a share of fourth place, just one shot off a three-way tie for the lead.
The Castlewarden native was solid not not spectacular with two birdies and sixteen pars.
LAD“I’ve been driving it well all week, so that created a lot of chances for me,” explained Walsh.
“I probably didn’t hit it quite as close as yesterday, but I holed one or two putts and I had no bogeys, which is always good. Just two birdies and 16 pars but overall, it was really solid.”
China’s Tian Xiaolin, Scotland’s Alison Muirhead and Singapore’s Shannon Tan sit at the top of the leaderboard on seven-under-par.
Xiaolin, who lives in Milan, opened with a round of 70 (-3) and followed that up with a round of 69 (-4) on day two in Morocco.
The Chinese player had one eagle, five birdies and three bogeys on her scorecard to climb up to a share of first place.
“The eagle on the 14th was insane,” she said. “That was around the time I was feeling a little tired and my shots weren’t going particularly straight. You need a good one on that par-five to get on the green with your second shot.
“The drive started a little bit right, but we teed off from the front, so my ball flew over the bunkers and I had a 5-iron in my hand. It was reachable. My second shot went more towards the right, but it landed a little bit past the pin and then I had a good lie for my chip. I hit my best chip of the day and I chipped it in.
“It was an interesting day because my long game was much better yesterday than today, but when the putter works, you make a lower score than when your long game works. Today I got a little bit luckier and more made more putts. I hit way more greens yesterday, but today, on the greens I hit, I made one putts.”
Muirhead, who held the lead overnight, had a steadier day carding a round of 71 (-1) to stay at the top of the leaderboard.
“Today was more of a grind out day,” said the Scot. “I wouldn’t say I hit it my best, but I got around the golf course, so I’m pretty happy. I’m really enjoying playing my golf at the moment, so I can’t complain too much.
“I had two birdies and two bogeys on the front nine, two birdies and a bogey on the back nine. It was a silly mistake coming down 18 but in general, I hit it close and gave myself a lot of chances, more on the back nine. I hit a lot of good putts and some of them dropped. I’m excited for tomorrow and just enjoying being out here.”
Singaporean amateur Tan produced a round of 69 (-4) on day two to move herself to the top as she had six birdies and two bogeys on her scorecard to also be on seven-under-par.
Olivia Hunt is in a share of 60th on plus twelve after back-to-back rounds of 69 while at Samanah, Abigail O’Riordan shares 49th place on nine-over-par.
Scoring HERE
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