SPITZ IN FRONT AT EUROPEAN PRE-QUALIFYING

Austria’s Emma Spitz holds a two-shot lead after the second day of the Pre-Qualifier – Europe at La Manga Club.

In wet and very windy conditions, the 22-year-old played the North course and made a consistent start with 10 consecutive pars.

Spitz’s first birdie of the day came on the 11^th with her second a couple of holes later and she only dropped one shot on the 17^th for a round of 70 (-1) and to lead with a total of five-under-par.

“We had a lot of fun today, even though the weather was not great,” said the Austrian, who turned professional in August.

“I tried to be patient and to make as many pars as possible and I had the mindset of ‘if I make a bogey, it’s fine’ and I only made a bogey on my 17^th hole. I was very accepting of bad shots and then there weren’t that many.

“I’m just going to try and play it one shot at a time. Today we expected bad weather, but it was a little bit worse than we expected. Maybe it will be good tomorrow, or it won’t! I will play my game and see what happens.”

Billie-Jo Smith sits in second place two shots behind Spitz after producing rounds of 72 (-1) and 69 (-2) on the first two days at La Manga Club.

The Englishwoman coped well with the tough conditions rolling in a birdie on her front nine before making three in-a-row on holes 10 through 12.

And despite two bogeys in her final two holes, Smith was still pleased with her second round of two-under in Spain.

She explained: “It was two very different rounds. I think it wasn’t all that pretty in some places, but on the whole, I played pretty solidly, and my short game helped me a lot. I holed a few putts, which was nice, and I’m trying to keep it on the fairway.

“I practised on Friday afternoon, and it was very windy then and I think that helped in terms of club choice – even though I think it is a bit winder than that today.

“I think sticking to the gameplan is really important and my caddie Paul has really helped me with that. Not getting too far ahead of myself, taking the shots one shot at a time and just focusing on the hole ahead rather than the bigger picture at the moment.”

Three players are in a share of third place with Italy’s Clara Manzalini, Thailand’s Benyapa Niphatsophon and Australian amateur Kelsey Bennett on two-under-par.

It was an excellent day for Bennett, as she carded the round of the day a bogey-free 69 (-4) on the South Course to move up the leaderboard, and all while playing without her own golf clubs.

“We just did one hole, and one shot a time, and didn’t get too ahead of ourselves,” said Bennett, who had two top-20 results at the co-sanctioned LET events in Australia earlier this season.

“We had some tricky shots in there which I pulled off quite well and then just made a couple of good up-and-downs which saved me from bogeys. It was solid all day. I hit some really good long irons into the par-fours, the hold off shots against the wind. A lot of it was right-to-left today, so I did well with them.

“I have got my whole family, my coach and my caddie here so I can’t complain. I’m getting very looked after this week!”

A shot further back on one-under-par are the trio of Thailand’s Trichat Cheenglab, Australia’s Kirsten Rudgeley and Denmark’s Linette Littau Durr Holmslykke with American Ashley Shim in solo ninth place on even par.

Four players are T10 after the first two days with Wales’ Amy Boulden, Spain’s Teresa Toscano, India’s Ridhima Dilawari and Norway’s Michelle Forsland on one-over-par.

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