Cara Gorlei sits at the top of the leaderboard on five-under-par at the halfway stage of the Magical Kenya Ladies Open. The South African was in a share of the lead overnight after shooting an opening four-under-par 69 but had a trickier second day on Friday at Vipingo Ridge.
Gorlei began her second round on the 10th tee and started off hot with three birdies in her first four holes before making a double bogey on the 14th hole.
The 27-year-old then dropped two more shots with bogeys on 16 and 18 but found momentum after the turn with three birdies on the trot.
She then made a bogey on seven to seal her round of one-under-par 72 and give her one-shot lead at the 36-hole mark in Kenya.
“Today was definitely tougher than yesterday I found, but I somehow managed to put in a good score after some good runs and bad runs during the 18 holes,” said the leader.
“I started birdie-birdie-par-birdie and got off to a hot start, then I had a nice little four-putt so that set me back a little bit. I came in pretty slow and then to start the back nine, I had another three birdies in-a-row, so that was great. But then again, I came in really slow. My putting was very hot and cold.
“It took me a while to get over the four-putt, that’s why I slowed down but once I started the new nine, I thought let’s get something going here. You have just got to put it in play on this course and I didn’t do it as well as yesterday, but I’m still happy with the under-par round.”
Nataliya Guseva sits in second place on the leaderboard on four-under-par having produced a round of three-under-par 70. Four players are in a share of third place with Japan’s Ayako Uehara, Switzerland’s Chiara Tamburlini, Singapore’s Shannon Tan and Italy’s Alessandra Fanali all on three-under-par.
Lee-Anne Pace had a level-par 73 to be one-over for the tournament in a share of 21st, while Nicole Garcia signed for a five-over 78, and, at five-over at halfway, was in a share of 55th.
Danielle du Toit didn’t make the cut after rounds of 76 and 89.
