Casandra Alexander carded a three-under-par 69 on Saturday to climb inside the top 20 of the Ladies European Tour’s Ladies Italian Open at Golf Nazionale outside Rome.
Alexander made four birdies and a bogey on the front nine, and three birdies, a bogey and a double-bogey on the back nine to climb 29 places up the leaderboard into a share of 17th.
Also in 17th was Lee-Anne Pace, who added a two-over-par 74 in the second round to her opening three-under 69. The South African pair was in a 10-way share of 17th.
England’s Amy Taylor leads with 18 holes remaining after carding a five-under-par 67 to move to seven-under-par. Chasing a maiden Ladies European Tour (LET) win, the Englishwoman is continuing her fine form in Italy having finished fourth on the LET Access Series (LETAS) last week.
In solo second sits Switzerland’s Tiffany Arafi. One of three leaders after round one, the 24-year-old had a mixed day carding three birdies and three bogeys for an even-par round.
Four stars linger behind Taylor and Arafi in a tie for third on five-under par. This includes another one of the overnight leaders, Spain’s Fatima Fernandez Cano, who scrambled well to post a 73 (+1) despite making a triple-bogey on her 10th hole, the par-5 1st.
Three winners sit alongside her in the standings. India’s Diksha Dagar, the revitalised Pia Babnik from Slovenia, and Magical Kenya Ladies Open winner Shannon Tan from Singapore.
Cara Gorlei was a shot behind her compatriots on level-par for the tournament after a second round of two-over 74.
Nicole Garcia and Danielle du Toit were on two-over after rounds of 70 and 72 respectively. They were in a share of 45th.
Britney Fay Berger and Lejan Lewthwaite missed the cut, and Stacy Bregman withdrew after the first round.
