Lacoste Ladies Open Day 2

World number ten Nelly Korda lived up to her favourite billing shooting a second round seven-under-par 64 to take a six-stroke lead into the weekend on 10-under-par at the Lacoste Ladies Open de France at Golf du Medoc, near Bordeaux.

Nelly Korda was in commanding form at Golf de Medoc Resort

The young American, who was the joint leading points’ scorer for the United States Solheim Cup team at Gleneagles last week, was in great form and will take a lot of catching over the weekend.

Overnight leader and Spanish Solheim Cup star, Azahara Muñoz, England’s Charlotte Thompson and Joanna Klatten from France are tied for second on four-under. All three were out in the tougher afternoon conditions where the temperature reached 32C and the wind got up.

Korda made the most of her early start. Starting on the 10th tee she holed from six feet for a birdie at the 11th and then made three consecutive birdies from the 13th. A dropped shot at the 17th was immediately cancelled by a birdie on the 18th and the young American turned in four under.

Azahara Muñoz found the going tough on Day 2

A further birdie followed at the 2nd and Korda finished in style holing from some 10 yards at the 9th her final hole.

“There’s still a lot of golf to be played, but I played really well today,” she said. “I started off hot on the front nine and hit the brakes on the back nine and missed a couple of short putts. I ended with a nice eagle. I’m actually glad that putt on 18 caught the hole, as it would have gone by a couple of feet, but I guess I’m comfortable on the greens this week.”

Muñoz, who shared the overnight lead, struggled on day two with three birdies being more than offset by  a double bogey and two bogeys in her round of 72.

“It was a so-so day. I don’t feel I played that badly. I had a lot of shots that I didn’t hit close, but it was really windy out there. I made a couple of silly mistakes: one with the driver and one where I hit it in the water, so I made a double and then a bogey to finish, that was it,” said the two-time tournament winner. “Nelly beat me by eight shots today, so she definitely had a great round and hopefully I can have some on the weekend.”

Charlotte Thompson looking slightly concerned on day two.

Thompson had a one-under-par round of 70 that consisted of four birdies and three dropped shots. “Of the bogeys that I had two were three putts so that was a bit disappointing, but I managed to bounce straight back with birdies. It’s such a great course out there; it’s such a good course for me and I love it,” she said.

“It’s such a good test of golf and suits the longer hitters, because it’s long out there. I’ve hit a couple of driver, 6-irons and I’m one of the longer hitters in the game. It is tough and it demands good shots. I really like it.”

Local favourite, Klatten went to the turn in two-under, but dropped a shot at the 11th where she found the penalty area left off the tee. The French woman said that she enjoyed playing for her home crowd.

Joanna Klatten of France studying the form on Day 2

“It was nice because I had a crowd following. Even if it’s 20 or 30 people, it means a lot and makes you fight that extra inch,” she said.

The difficulty of the course and conditions showed in the cut mark which was made at six-over-par. 65 players will compete over the weekend.

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