Ashleigh Simon leads the Ladies British Masters in Buckinghamshire at nine-under par after posting a six-under second round of 66, but Australian duo Rebecca Artis and Stacey Keating are within striking distance. At the completion of the day two Simon sits two strokes ahead of American Beth Allen and Lydia Hall of Wales, who are tied for second place at Buckinghamshire Golf Club. Trailing the co-leaders by three strokes overnight, South African Simon birdied the third and followed up with a remarkable run of five birdies in succession from the fifth, capping it off with an Eagle at the tenth. Simon then bogeyed the 12th and 13th, before a birdie at 14 and disappointing bogey at 18 to finish the day with a 66. “It was a good day out there; a disappointing finish, to finish with a three-putt, but all my drops were three-putts,” Simon said. “It shows that I hit it good and just left myself in some awkward positions with those shots but other than that I played really well.” Hall, joint-second at the close of play on Friday, was one of the co-leaders overnight but was overtaken after shooting a second-round 71. “It was a tough day. It&aposs playing a lot more difficult today because the breeze has got up drastically this morning. It was a real grind out there and just had to get the ball in the middle of the green and two putts,” Hall said. Allen hit six birdies in her charge for first place but was hurt by a bogey at 14 and double bogey on the fourth which saw her post a 69. “It was pretty solid apart from one hole but I&aposve been putting well for a change, which was good,” the 30-year-old Californian said. There is a three-way tie for fourth spot between French players Julie Greciet and Gwladys Nocera, and Sweden&aposs Mikaela Parmlid, who are all five under. England&aposs Henrietta Zuel slipped to joint ninth place after a second round of 75 took her to five under. Zuel led the field overnight with Hall and Laura Davies, who shot 77 on day two to fall to equal 20th. America&aposs Esther Choe and Thailand&aposs Montaya Srisawang are tied for seventh at four under. Artis sits in ninth position at three under, along with Marjet Van Der Graaff, Keating, Stacey Lee Bregman, Trish Johnson, Lee-Anne Pace and Kirsty S Taylor.
Author: Omnisport