France’s Celine Herbin and USA’s Brianna Navarrosa share the lead at the Joburg Ladies Open with play suspended for the day due to darkness.
The pair both completed their second rounds moving to 11-under par through 36 holes on a rain-ridden Friday at Randpark Golf Club. Fifteen players are yet to finish round two and will return on Saturday morning at 07:45 to resume their scorecard.
Herbin made the most of dry morning conditions firing a 67 (-6) to set the early target. The Frenchwoman, a two-time winner on the Ladies European Tour (LET), got off to a hot start birdying five of her first seven holes in South Africa. A string of pars followed before Herbin birdied the par-5 14th and 18th after hitting the green in two.
“It was a nice day, I really enjoyed it,” she said. “It was an early start, a very early alarm this morning but I managed it well. My game is in good shape and the greens here are awesome. I really enjoy this course. It’s a very nice track to play. The greens are rolling so pure which made it easy to make some birdies.”
At 43-years-old Herbin is chasing a third LET victory this week following wins at the Open de France in 2015 and La Reserva de Sotogrande Invitational in 2019.
“The truth is that I’m still doing the good work,” she said on her longevity on tour. “It’s my fifteenth year as a full member on the LET. I have a lot of experience and also played in America on the LPGA. I still playing competitvely and continue to put in the work. I’m still motivated to improve.”
Navarrosa meanwhile had to deal with a more testing, wet afternoon carding early birdies at the 12th and 18th before the horn sounded due to the threat of thunder and lightning in the area.
Returning for the restart following a 45-minute suspension, the 23-year-old proved rain was no hinderance as she carded three birdies in a row at the 2nd, 3rd and 4th to move into the solo lead. Another nearly followed after a fantastic tee shot at the par-3 5th before Navarrosa made her first bogey of the week a few holes later at the par-3 8th after hitting it in the bunker.
“If you had told me I would play like this in this weather, I would be so surprised,” the Californian said. “My main goal today was just staying patient – you never know with the weather here. I’m excited for the weekend. It felt like a fresh start [after the restart]. I think I was really hungry so coming inside actually really helped me.”
Navarrosa, a second year player on the LET, is also enjoying her time off the course staying with Amelia Garvey, Ginnie Ding and Amy Lee.
“The vibes are good in the house,” she explained. “I think that’s an important thing to have during these long weeks. We’ve been going to the steakhouse every night, it’s called Turn ‘n Tender, so if they gave us a free dinner that would be great!”
In solo third on 10-under par sits France’s Camille Chevalier who matched the round of the week 66 (-7). Chevalier, a one-time winner on the LET, failed to drop a single shot on Friday at Randpark Golf Club.
“I was patient and stayed focused on what was on important, which was preparation of the shot,” the 32-year-old said. “I call it a patience marathon. “I don’t think about playing aggressive, I try to be relaxed and be in lion mode. But I don’t like to activate it too much.”
Also proving rain was no obstacle in the afternoon was Morocco’s Maha Haddioui who carded a 68 (-5) to move to nine-under par. She shares fourth spot with Australia’s Kirsten Rudgeley and England’s Jess Baker who completed their second rounds in the dry morning wave.
“I’m really happy with the attitude because I’m usually not good in the rain,” Haddioui said. “I don’t like it! So definitely improvement on that. The suspension broke the rhythm a little a bit so I did well to keep focused.”
Norway’s Tina Mazarino, Spain’s Ana Pelaez Trivino and Sweden’s Kajsa Arwefjall sit in seventh position on eight-under par. Pelaez and Arwefjall both proved themselves to be exceptional wet weather golfers carding rounds of 67 (-6) as the rain poured down in the afternoon.
The second round will continue tomorrow morning at 07:45 local time. Round three will then be a U-shaped, two-tee draw starting at approximately 10:00 local time.
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