Alison Whitaker remains in contention at the UNIQA Ladies Golf Open as defending champion Caroline Hedwall took a two-shot lead after the second round on Saturday. Swede Hedwall, playing in her first tournament for two months after a hip injury, carded a six-under 66 at Golfclub Fohrenwald to move to 11 under. Australian Whitaker, who shared the overnight lead with Hedwall, managed a four-under 68 to be two shots off the pace in second. Englishwoman Melissa Reid (five-under 67) and Thai Nontaya Srisawang (68) are tied for third, six-under overall at the 54-hole tournament. Of the other Australians in the field, Rebecca Artis (two under) and Stacey Keating (one under) have been solid but are too far back to mount a serious challenge in the final round. Frances Bondad (even par) was the only other Aussie to make the cut as Stephanie Na (two over), Nikki Garrett (three over) and Rachel Bailey (12 over) missed out. Hedwall meanwhile was in fine form in Austria, holing four birdies on the back nine to complete her bogey-free round. “I haven&apost actually gone for the greens today. I&aposm hitting my wedges so well I&aposm just looking to hit the fairways, get a good approach shot and I gave myself a lot of birdie opportunities today and made a lot of putts so I&aposm very happy,” she said. “I&aposve just got to keep doing what I&aposm doing. If I can shoot five or six under tomorrow it will be hard to beat.” Whitaker recovered from a poor start – a bogey on the par-five first hole – to shoot five birdies from that point on and stay in contention. The 26-year-old is in her first season on the Ladies European Tour and looks set to improve on her best result of the year a tied for 11th in Holland. “It&aposs good to see some balls go in the hole and see some hard work pay off,” Whitaker said. “It&aposs been a bit of a grind this season so it&aposs good to get a little momentum going.” Just behind Reid and Srisawang is three-time champion Laura Davies, who is one of six players on five under. Joining the Englishwoman in a tie for fifth are Frenchwomen Joanna Klatten and Anne-Lise Caudal, Swedes Mikaela Parmlid and Linda Wessberg and South African Stacy-Lee Bregman. Meanwhile, England&aposs Hannah Burke was disqualified after signing for the wrong score.