(Metropolitan Golf Club, Melbourne)
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South Korean golfer Chang-Hee Lee holds a two-shot lead halfway through the Women&aposs Australian Open at Metropolitan Golf Club in Melbourne. The 20-year-old from the town of Gumi returned a superb second round of three-under 70 to lead on seven-under 139.
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rnAustralia&aposs Karrie Webb, who led by three after the first round, followed her opening 66 with a 75 and slipped back into a share of second place with England&aposs Georgina Simpson (68) and Spain&aposs Tania Elosegui (72).
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rnThe 20-year-old Lee started well with two birdies on the third and fourth holes to make the turn in two-under. She mixed a further three birdies with two bogeys over the back nine to come back in one-under-par.
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rnSpeaking through an interpreter, Lee said: "Yesterday was very windy and I played with it. Today the weather was good, but I didn&apost want to get too greedy. I love this course but there are many bunkers so it is very difficult." She added that courses tended to be hillier at home in Korea. Like many Korean golfers of her age, she said that she had been inspired to take up the game at the age of 10 following the success of Se Ri Pak, who won the US Open in 1998.
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rn"I watched Se Ri Pak with her feet in the water at the US Open and that inspired me. My dad asked me if I wanted to take up golf," said Lee, who won a tournament on the LPGA&aposs secondary "Dream Tour". She was 15th on the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) money list last year, which was her second season as a member.
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rnJust as she was finishing her round at around 12.50pm, Australian Karrie Webb was teeing off in stronger winds. The defending champion&aposs quest for a fifth Australian Open title and third in succession started badly when she bogeyed the first hole, but she recovered with a birdie at the third. Her round took a turn for the worse when she double bogeyed the short 13th. She took the wrong club and had to chip back over a steep bank.
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rnWebb said it just wasn&apost her day. "I really did not think there would be low scores this afternoon and seven under was in before I teed off. I am glad that I hung in there and am only two shots behind."
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rnEngland&aposs Georgina Simpson is in the hunt for a maiden victory after a sensational second round of five-under-par 68, which contained seven birdies and two bogeys. The eighth year Ladies European Tour player said that she had gained 20 yards on her driving distance over the winter as a result of a core strengthening programme she has been working on for the last five months with Ben Langdown at the British PGA.
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rn"I played with Joanne Mills up on the Gold Coast. Last year I was the same length as her. Now I am 20 yards past her. I have played with Jo a lot," said Simpson, 33, from Gomersal in West Yorkshire. "It also helps because I am stronger and my core is stronger. I have been able to work with my coach Graham Walker. Things that I have not been strong enough in the past to do; now I can do. That is the biggest thing." She also credited a putting tip from German professional Elisabeth Esterl.
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rnTwelve-year-old Melbourne schoolgirl Su-Hyun Oh, the youngest-ever player to compete in the Women&aposs Australian Open, added an 81 to her opening 79 and finished on 14-over-par, which missed the cut by six shots. Fellow 12-year-old Youngmin Chi also missed the cut.
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Photo: Chang-Hee Lee by Anthony Powter