Day two of the Aramco Team Series in Riyadh saw another clinic from Slovakia’s Pia Babnik as she matched her opening day’s 65 to sit two clear on -14 as the pack struggled to stay in touch with her charge.
Fellow overnight leaders, Charley Hull and Luna Sobron lie two and three strokes adrift of the Slovak respectively with the Spaniard being joined by her compatriot Fatima Fernandez Cano to tie third on -11. Lauren Walsh holds station at four-under but lost ground to the low scoring leaders.
Walsh’s second round was a model of consistency, even as the leaders pulled clear. She hit 13/14 fairways and only failed to make one green in regulation. This came on the par-four third hole which would see Walsh card her only dropped shot of the round. She responded well to this, with a run of 12 straight pars as she negotiated her way around before regaining her dropped stroke on the par-four 16th. A pair of pars tidied up her round of 72 and she sits in a tie for 24th heading into Saturday, and 10 back from the lead.
Babnik started her day with intent by birdieing her opener to set the tone for her round. Another blistering opening nine from the leader saw her follow the opener with another birdie on the par-four third. She would build on this with a run of three on the bounce from the sixth hole on her way to turning on five under par.
The back nine was a more sedate affair but she would still go on to nab another pair of birdies on her homeward leg with a pair of twos on the par-threes, the 14th and 17th. Yet to card a bogey the week she sits clear at the top and in ominous form heading into the weekend.
“I hit all 18 greens today, so I had 18 good looks at birdie!” Babnik said. “I made seven of them, so it was great. I’ve been working hard so I’m really happy to see this [performance]. I’m super excited for tomorrow. This is what I have been working for, to be in this position. I’ll try to do the same.”
Chasing her down this weekend will be Charley Hull who was in bullish form after her second day. “It’s a fun golf course to play,” Hull said. “I like chasing, it’s more fun. I think I’m playing with Pia [Babnik] tomorrow who is leading so I’m sure I’ll get a rough idea of what I need to do. I’m just going to try and play lights out. Two years isn’t that long but of course you always want to win. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Round of the day went to Spain’s Fernandez Cano who followed up her opening day’s 71 with a remarkable 62 [-10]. Runs of four and three birdies on the bounce helped her case as she dismantled Riyadh Golf Club with 10 birdies and no dropped shot.
The team portion of the event concluded on day two with team Tamburlini clinching victory by a record 10 strokes. Tamburlini becomes the first captain to win back-to-back team events as she and her teammates, Anne-Charlotte Mora, Mimi Rhodes and amateur, Tenniel Chun took the spoils on a combined score of -43.
Saturday’s action in Riyadh kicks off at 7.00am with a slightly later start for Walsh, who is joined on the first hole at 9.20am by Shannon Tan and Allesandra Fanali for their third journey around.
The final three-ball of the day should be action packed, with Babnik, Hull and Fernandez Cano hitting the course at 10.50am. Expect fireworks as they attempt to reel in Babnik’s two shot advantage.
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