Whitney Hillier holds a one-shot lead heading into the weekend at the Big Green Egg Open, with a second successive round of 68 (-4) seeing the Australian star sit on -8 at the halfway mark in The Netherlands.
The 31-year-old has Sarah Schober for company at the top of the leaderboard after two rounds at Rosendaelsche Golf Club, with the Austrian rolling in an eagle on her penultimate hole of the day to keep in contention.
It was a similarly strong finish for Hillier on Friday, as she birdied each of her final three holes to hold the advantage with 36 holes left to play.
“I had a pretty good day today, I was patient more than anything, I had a couple of testing putts and a couple bogeys in between, but to finish off with three birdies was a good strong finish,” Hillier said.
“I was staying patient more than anything, this course is tight in some places so you have to be patient and pick small targets, so that’s what I’m trying to do.”
Things started well on day two for the Australian ace, with birdies on holes three and four seeing her set the early pace, while a dropped shot on the fifth was swiftly forgotten about with a birdie on eight.
And it looked as if another bogey on 14 was going to leave her among the leading pack heading into the weekend, before her final flurry saw her pull clear.
She continued: “I’m happy and I’m rolling with it, I’ve been working hard and that seems to be coming off now.
“There’s plenty more golf to go, I won’t be changing anything heading into the weekend, I’ve got George on the bag so he’ll keep me laughing and keep me happy, we’ll just take one shot at a time and whatever happens, happens.”
It looked as if Hillier was going to have a three-shot lead at the halfway point of the competition, only for Schober to arrow in an eagle on the eighth – her penultimate hole – to keep the pressure on at the top of the leaderboard.
It had been an up and down day for the Austrian before that point, with three birdies and three bogeys seeing her at level-par after her first 16 holes, before finishing the day with aplomb.
And it was made even more special by the fact it was her first eagle on Tour for over 18 months, with her last coming at the Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open De Espana back in November 2020.
“It was a little difficult for me to play today, I didn’t hit my tee shots as well as yesterday, but I made really good saves and stayed positive. I’ve been waiting for an eagle for a long time so I’m very happy to finally get one today and to finish two-under,” she said.
“I have a friend at home who tells me I need to eagle soon because I’m always hitting it long but I’m always telling her it’s not that easy, so I’m going to be texting her straight away!
“I came into this week without any expectations, I didn’t play my best last week in Spain and didn’t have a real practice round for this event, so I’m taking it one shot at a time and it’s really brilliant to be in the final group tomorrow so we’ll see what’s out there.”
The Indian duo of Vani Kapoor and Diksha Dagar sit in a tie for third on -5 after two rounds of action in the Netherlands, with scores of 70 and 71 respectively seeing them keep in contention after the second round.
Consistency was the key for Kapoor in Friday’s play, as she registered 15 consecutive pars after starting on the tenth tee, before finding two birdies in her final three holes to shift up the leaderboard.
“I played pretty solid, I was hitting fairways and greens but didn’t give myself enough chances – i wasn’t hitting it that close – but I was just hoping that sometimes a putt would drop and they did on the 7th and 8th so that was nice,” she said.
“It’s a very tight course and you have to place your ball and be very careful, so that’s what my plan was – to play fairway, green, fairway, green – and hopefully the putts drop.
“I’m a very accurate player and don’t miss too many fairways, so I guess that’s what’s helping me out here, its one of the tightest courses we played at it seems to be suiting me.
“I feel confident, the last two rounds have given me more confidence that I can shoot under-par rounds and I can go low, so I hope things are turning around and everything goes well at the weekend.”
For the second day running Dagar came flying out the blocks with early birdies on the eleventh and twelfth putting her name at the top of the leaderboard, before dropping a shot on the par-five 15th.
A birdie on the 17th soon got her back on track, only for a dropped shot on the ninth – her final hole of the day – seeing her sit three shots off the lead with the weekend still to come.
And despite the disappointing finish to her day, the Indian talent is keen to keep her momentum going onto Saturday and Sunday.
Dagar said: “The difference today was that my putts didn’t go in, and I had troubles with my club selection and some of my shots were short.
“I started really well and made some long putts but then I made some silly mistakes later in my round. I had some trouble on the first par-five on the back nine and then had some bad breaks on my final two holes.
“I had a good bunker shot on the ninth that lipped out, then the putt was breaking the opposite way. Some of the greens were tricky today.
“I have learned a lot of things from today, so I’m going to make sure I make less mistakes over the weekend and keep the ball in the fairway and keep it simple.
“It’s very good for me and Vani to be near the top of the leaderboard, I’m always happy to see Indians doing well, for her to be on five-under as well, that’s good golf.”
Amateurs Alexandra Försterling and Mayka Hoogeboom share fifth spot with Nuria Iturrioz as Saturday approaches, with all three catching the eye on a tough day for scoring in The Netherlands.
All three registered just a single dropped shot on their card on Friday, with Iturrioz and Försterling signing for rounds of 69 (-3) while Hoogeboom equalled leader Hillier’s effort of 68 (-4).
Overnight leader Liz Young sits a stroke further back in a tie for eighth after 36 holes, with the Englishwoman dropping three shots on the seventh after struggling with her back in the latter part of the round.
And she has compatriot Holly Clyburn and France’s Anais Meyssonnier for company on -3 after round two, after rounds of 71 and 72 respectively.
Solheim Cup star Anna Nordqvist sits just outside the top ten on -2 after a second round score of 70 (-2), where she sits alongside Stacy Lee Bregman who signed for a round of 71 on day two.
64 players made the cut to make it into the weekend, with the cut mark coming at +4.
