She said she was a bit annoyed at missing some short putts on Thursday, but Mireia Prat was pleased to still be in the lead after the second round of the Sunshine Ladies Tour’s Jabra Ladies Open being played at Glendower Golf Club.
The Spaniard made five birdies and three bogeys over two very different nines for her, and that took her to 11-under through 36 hole and one stroke clear of Smilla Tarning Soenderby from Norway.
Mireia has some inform players in her rear-view mirror, though.
Recent Dimension Data Ladies Pro-Am winner Moa Folke of Sweden is just two off the pace, and 11-time Ladies European Tour champion Lee-Anne Pace is three back in joint fourth with current Investec Order of Merit leader Lily May Humphreys of England and SuperSport Ladies Challenge champion Casandra Alexander.
“My back nine was much better than my front nine,” said Prat of her homeward loop which brough two birdies without any dropped shots. “I made three bogeys on the front nine, but at least I made three birdies too.
“I missed four putts inside two metres, which I’m annoyed about, but I also made some good putts for birdies and to save par a couple of times. The course is playing short, so the birdie chances are there, and the par-fives, especially, are gettable.”
She got her round going with a birdie on the first, and, after her opening nine-under-par 63, she must have felt that she was going to soar clear of the rest of the field.
But bogeys on four, five and nine brought her up short. “On nine, it was one of those short putts that I missed,” said Prat, “and on four too. On five, I had a difficult stance with my feet in a fairway bunker, and all I could do was bunt it towards the green with a six-iron. I got it to 50 metres but couldn’t get up and down from there.
“But I was at least making some birdies in between, on six and seven. On six, it was nearly a hole-in-one after I hit to about a foot, and on seven, I hit a good approach and made a good putt.”
Behind Prat, Soenderby had a superb round with her six-under 66 lifting her to second on 10-under. It was a round that had two bogeys in it, so she could have been in front.
Also shooting six-under was five-time Investec South African Women’s Open champion Pace, who moved menacingly into position for a final day charge.
#reasontosmile
— Sunshine Ladies Tour (@SLadiesTour) February 23, 2023
Lee-Anne Pace has shrugged off the jet-lag! A 6-under-66 to tie the low round of the day.. and just a lone bogey on her card...
Three back heading into #DDay!
2023 #jabraladiesclassic | Glendower Golf Club#sunshineladiestour #WeGotGame @We_are_Jabra pic.twitter.com/SEsXSbttNC
Humphreys continues to impress, and although she shot only one-under, she stays in contention week after week, and she too could pull things together for a tilt at the top of the leaderboard at the tournament’s conclusion.
Alexander held things together with a two-under-par 70. With a double-bogey to kick things off, and two consecutive bogeys at the end of her round, she knows precisely what she needs to do on the final day on a course she knows as well as anyone.
For Prat, however, who has won twice on the Ladies European Tour Access Series, it will be a question of more of the same if she is to pull off a win at Glendower. “I saw the two 66s today,” she said, “so I know the birdies are out there. I need to make sure I don’t miss makeable putts.”
SECOND-ROUND SCORES
133 - Mireia Prat (ESP) 63 70
134 - Smilla Tarning Soenderby (DEN) 68 66
135 - Moa Folke (SWE) 65 70
136 - Lily May Humphreys (ENG) 65 71, Lee-Anne Pace 70 66, Casandra Alexander 66 70
137 - Kaleigh Telfer 67 70
139 - Carolin Kauffmann (GER) 69 70
140 - Romy Meekers (NED) 72 68, Sanna Nuutinen (FIN) 69 71, Tandi McCallum 71 69
141 - Maiken Bing Paulsen (NOR) 70 71, Genevieve Ling (MAS) 71 70, Ridhima Dilawari (IND) 70 71, Pranavi Urs (IND) 71 70, Teresa Diez Moliner (ESP) 72 69, Nadia van der Westhuizen 69 72, Anne-Lise Caudal (FRA) 71 70, Bonita Bredenhann (NAM) 70 71
142 - Katja Pogacar (SVN) 75 67, Gabrielle Venter 72 70, Woo-Ju Son (KOR) 68 74, Marta Martin (ESP) 73 69, Martina Flori (ITA) 71 71
143 - Camille Chevalier (FRA) 75 68, Lauren Taylor (ENG) 69 74, Becky Morgan (WAL) 71 72, Jane Turner (SCO) 72 71, Stacy Bregman 71 72, Nobuhle Dlamini (SWZ) 72 71, Leticia Ras-Anderica (GER) 71 72
Missed the cut
144 - Florentyna Parker (ENG) 74 70, Corinne Viden (SWE) 70 74, Nicole Garcia 72 72, Brittney-Fay Berger 73 71
145 - Marion Duvernay (FRA) 79 66, Kiera Floyd 76 69, Samantha Giles (ENG) 72 73, Thalia Martin (ENG) 73 72, Celine Karlung (NOR) 74 71, Elena Hualde (ESP) 70 75, Bronwyn Doeg 70 75, Sara Kjellker (SWE) 72 73, Ivanna Samu 74 71, Zethu Myeki 73 72
146 - Dorthea Forbrigd (NOR) 73 73, Emie Peronnin (FRA) 73 73, Clara Young (SCO) 78 68, Anna Magnusson (SWE) 73 73, Harang Lee (ESP) 73 73, Elena Moosmann (SUI) 75 71, Lindi Coetzee 70 76, Hayley Davis (ENG) 73 73, Helen Kreuzer (GER) 73 73, Alexandra Swayne (ISV) 75 71, Sarina Schmidt (GER) 71 75, Maho Hayakawa (JPN) 69 77
147 - Dulcie Sverdloff (ENG) 72 75, Dea Mahendra (INA) 72 75, Verena Gimmy (GER) 71 76
148 - Nikki Hofstede (NED) 76 72, Emily Penttila (FIN) 72 76, Yolanda Duma 73 75, Christina Gloor (SUI) 74 74, Pasqualle Coffa (NED) 77 71, Georgina Blackman (ENG) 77 71, Olivia Mehaffey (NIR) 74 74
149 - Franziska Friedrich (GER) 76 73, Gabrielle Macdonald (SCO) 76 73, Karoline Lund (NOR) 77 72, Kelsey Nicholas 75 74, Tara Griebenow 79 70
150 - Georgia Iziemgbe Oboh (NGA) 76 74, Chante van Zyl 73 77, Cara Gorlei 74 76, Larissa Du Preez 76 74, Amy Boulden (WAL) 74 76, Isabella van Rooyen 75 75, Isabella Deilert (SWE) 74 76, Laura Gomez Ruiz (ESP) 76 74
151 - Linette Holmslykke (DEN) 71 80, Victoria Craig (NIR) 75 76, Charlotte Liautier (FRA) 79 72, Michelle Forsland (NOR) 78 73
152 - Tina Mazarino (NOR) 76 76, Julie Boysen Hillestad (NOR) 77 75, Kim Williams 72 80, Sarah Gee (ENG) 78 74
153 - Lynette Fourie 79 74, Michelle Leigh 80 73, Marta Perez Sanmartin (ESP) 78 75, Lenanda van der Watt 75 78, Lejan Lewthwaite 77 76
154 - Sideri Vanova (CZE) 78 76, Maria Herraez Galvez (ESP) 80 74
155 - Shawnelle de Lange 83 72, Lora Assad 78 77
156 - Katerina Vlasinova (CZE) 81 75
157 - Carey Dodds (a) 78 79, Francesca Cuturi 76 81
158 - Sophie Keech (ENG) 80 78, Kaylan Boshoff 77 81
160 - Federica Biscuoli (ITA) 76 84, Julie Berton (FRA) 83 77
162 - Leontine Petit (FRA) 83 79
163 - Michelle Swanepoel 85 78
168 - Zenia Wivou (AUS) 84 84
170 - Kayla Saunders (a) 85 85
183 - Christine van Cittert 94 89
WDN - Nina Pegova (WHT) 84