Date: April 11, 2010
Author:

Australians third after Round 2 of Queen Sirikit Cup

Australia goes into tomorrow&aposs final round of the 2010 Queen Sirikit Cup just four shots behind leaders New Zealand at Hamilton Golf Club on New Zealand&aposs North Island. Srixon Australian Amateur champion Stacey Keating (VIC) bounced back from her opening round 75 with a second round 2-under par 70 and with Justine Lee&aposs (NSW) 1-under 71, improved on Australia&aposs round 1 total by four strokes with 141 to match New Zealand in producing the best score of round two. Ebony Heard (SA) finished with a 1-over par 73 in the second round. New Zealand fired a second successive three-under 141 to move to six-under par 282. The Kiwis have a two shot lead over powerhouses Korea who shot a two-under 142 today to move to four-under as they chase their sixth Queen Sirikit Cup title in the last eight years. Thailand are in fourth place on even par after a two-over 146 today, four shots ahead of the improving China, who fired a two-under 142 in the second round. Japan and Chinese Taipei both shot two-over 146 to be on seven-over and nine-over respectively and will need exceptional scoring tomorrow to figure in the calculations. Steele said the big crowds provided great support for the kiwis today. Korea s Hyo Joo Kim grabbed the lead in the individual honours after the low-round three under 69 to be on three-under, two shots ahead of Cho and Thailand s Yupaporn Kawinpakorn. Scores, round 2, Hamilton GC, par 72 (* designates non counting): 282 New Zealand 141 141 (Zoe Brake 69 80*, Cecilia Cho 72 71, Lydia Ko 76* 70) 284 Korea 142 142 286 Australia 145 141 (Stacey Keating 75* 70, Justine Lee 73 71, Ebony Heard 72 73*) 288 Thailand 142 146 292 China 150 142 295 Japan 149 146 297 Chinese Taipei 151 146 298 Philippines 152 146 303 Hong Kong 153 150 307 Singapore 147 160 311 India 159 152 313 Malaysia 160 153 Leading scores: Individual 141 Hyo Joo Kim (Korea) 72 69 143 Cecilia Cho (New Zealand) 72 71, Yupaporn Kawinpakorn (Thailand) 70 73 144 Ji Hee Kim (Korea) 71 73, Justine Lee (Australia) 73 71, Eri Joma (Japan) 73 71 145 Ebony Heard (Australia) 72 73, Stacey Keating (Australia) 75 70, Lou Ying (China) 76 69 146 Lydia Ko (NZL) 76 70, Jung Eun Han (Korea) 71 75, Jaruporn Na Ayutthaya (Thailand) 72 74