Helen Briem fired a round of 65 (-6) to climb to the top of the leaderboard at the 36-hole mark of the Jabra Ladies Open de France.
The German star opened with a 69 (-2) on the first day at Evian Resort but got off to a hot start in her second round.
Briem, who began from the 15th tee, rolled in four birdies in a row on holes 15 to 18 before making further birdies on the third, sixth and seventh holes with her only dropped shot at 14.
The LET winner, who been mainly playing her rookie season on the LPGA Tour this year, has a three-shot lead and sits atop the leaderboard on eight-under-par.
“I would say my putter was really good today,” said Briem, who is in search of her second LET title. “I had many chances and I used many of them, so that was really good.
“It’s very tight off the tee, so I would say actually it doesn’t suit my game very well, but you’ve got a couple of par-5s that you can reach in two or two-and-a-half. If you are in the fairway, you can give yourself many opportunities and that’s what I did today and what I’m happy with.
“I could have played on the LPGA this weekend, but I decided to play here, it’s very close to home and a great area. There’s great food and it’s great playing this event. We will see what happens tomorrow.
“It’s been a while since I have last been in contention, I am really happy about that. I know what I can do. Plan is basically fairway, green and then just try to make your putt and that’s what I’m trying to do and focus tomorrow and we’ll see.”
Three players are in a share of second place with Ireland’s Sara Byrne, Norway’s Dorthea Forbrigd and Germany’s Laura Fünfstück all on five-under-par.
Byrne continued her great comeback from an elbow injury with a round of 69 (-2) which included five birdies and three bogeys on her scorecard in France.
“It’s really good, I feel good to be near the top of the leaderboard and putting myself in good positions,” said the Irishwoman. “I’m hitting good shots, rolling good putts and trying to take as many opportunities as possible.
“This golf course is hard, it can snap back at you as quickly as it can give you some birdies. I’m enjoying it out here, the weather is beautiful. It’s amazing. It’s probably one of my first times playing a proper major golf course and they’re kind of setting it up like that as well.
“It’s a little bit difficult, this is only my third tournament back. It feels good to get to the top of the leaderboard with that. The arm is twinging this week, it’s hard because I’m trying to not take a practice swing because that’s where it hurts the most and then getting your subconscious to commit to it.
“I am juggling that a lot more this week than the last two, it’s three weeks on the road now so it’s giving a little bit of kickback. It’s holding up as good as it can be. It’s a learning curve, I hadn’t played competitive golf in six months so coming back and putting myself in a good spot is really cool.”
Leader after round one Forbrigd produced an even par day with three bogeys and three birdies in Evian.
“Overall, I’m happy with the score. Yesterday I was very close all the time and today I was further away from the flag and had to work a little bit more,” said Forbrigd. “The times I needed to make some clutch putts I didn’t, whereas yesterday I did but that’s golf.
“It’s never going to be the same. It was more of a grind today, but I’m still happy to be in contention and nice to enter the final round feeling like I have more to gain. I didn’t play well today, so I’m excited to get back out and get a new chance tomorrow.”
Germany’s Fünfstück fired a flawless round of 65 (-6) on day two with birdies on holes seven, eight, nine, 10, 16 and 17 to be three shots behind compatriot Briem.
“Honestly, I played really nicely yesterday as well but I couldn’t really figure the greens out,” said Fünfstück, who won the 2025 PIF London Championship. “I went to the lake yesterday and did a 10-minute putting practice and for some reason, it was way better today. Overall, I think I just played really steady and I’m quite pleased with it.
“Rosie [her wife] messaged me this morning saying just remember there’s always a few birdies in a row just around the corner and I thought about that as I was walking up the seventh. I remembered what she had said and I had it in my head to get a birdie run going and the fourth on 10 was a little bit lucky, but it was a good chip, so I’ll take that one as well.”
French amateur Alice Kong is the leading home player at the 36-hole mark after back-to-back rounds of 69 (-2) in her home open.
LET Access Series winner Kong, who also represented Europe in the 2024 PING Junior Solheim Cup, made four birdies and two bogeys in her homeland to be in solo fifth place.
“It’s a tough course, so I’m just not thinking about the scores until now and it’s going pretty well. I’m very happy and all the things I’ve worked on in the winter are now paying off,” said the 16-year-old. “I’m so proud to represent France this week and so grateful to get an invite to this wonderful tournament.
“I’m very grateful to the French Federation for everything they’ve done for me. Tomorrow, I will just try to hit my shots and just think about my game. I will just keep calm and enjoy the course also because everyone knows it’s a very beautiful course.”
Wales’ Lydia Hall, Singapore’s Shannon Tan and India’s Diksha Dagar are all in a tie for sixth place on three-under-par with five players one shot further back in T9.
LET rookie Lucia Vachova provided a highlight of the second day making her first-ever hole-in-one on the par-3 fifth hole.
The cut fell at +4 with 67 players making it through to the final day of action at the Jabra Ladies Open de France.
Round three will begin at 8.05 am (local time) with the leaders teeing off at 11.05 am at Evian Resort Golf Club.
Keep up to date with all the action throughout on our socials – @LETgolf on Instagram, TikTok and X, and Ladies European Tour on YouTube and Facebook – #JabraLadiesOpenDeFrance.
