Kelsey Bennett continued her “solid” start to 2026 on Friday at the Australian Women’s Classic posting a round of 68 (-4) to move one shot clear in her home state.
Two back from Sara Kouskova before the start of play, the Australian carded seven birdies and dropped two shots at Magenta Shores Golf & Country to lead the way on 10-under par heading into the weekend.
Bennett, born and raised in New South Wales, also led through 18 holes at last week’s Ford Women’s NSW Open before eventually finishing T8. This followed a T12 at the season-opening PIF Saudi Ladies International in Riyadh.
“It was solid again today,” the 26-year-old said, who followed up yesterday’s 66 (-6) to move to 10-under par for the tournament. “There were a few little mishaps in there, sort of made a couple of average bogeys, but yeah, just managed to keep my head screwed on and just keep going and then made a few birdies coming in, which was nice.”
Bennett is chasing a maiden Ladies European Tour (LET) victory this week having finished third-place twice at the Investec SA Women’s Open and Andaluciá Costa del Sol Open de España in 2025.
Last week at Wollongong Golf Club, the Australian had a great chance to claim an elusive victory during a bunched final day. She was unable to follow the low scorers ahead of her as France’s Agathe Laisne secured the win.
“I was pretty anxious all day,” she said on the near fall. “I got a bit caught up in my own head about being in that final group. So yeah, the only way you can experience that is by being in it. So yeah, I’m just going to take out that feeling and hopefully just settle yourself a bit better, settle myself a bit better and just focus a bit harder and stick to my processes more.”
In a tie for second on nine-under par at Magenta Shores sit Thailand’s Trichat Cheenglab and England’s Meghan MacLaren.
The former, winner of the 2024 LET Order of Merit, followed up yesterday’s 67 (-5) with a 68 (-4) which included one dropped shot and three birdies in her final seven holes.
“I didn’t expect anything this week,” Cheenglab said, who missed the cut at a rain-hampered Ford Women’s NSW Open last week. “I just changed a little bit on my putting skill, and yeah it’s worked.”
MacLaren meanwhile posted a bogey-free 67 (-5) to continue her revival story. The three-time LET winner is the only past champion in the field having won this event in 2022.
“It was kind of a long afternoon out there,” MacLaren said, who earned her full LET status back at Q-School in December. “It was hot, but I played really, really nicely today and kind of just done what I needed to do the last two days – cleaned up whenever I haven’t hit some good shots and kind of taken advantage of some of the good stuff.
“Two years ago I was here and I sat there after the first round and just cried my eyes out because I just felt so lost. I was struggling so badly. I shouldn’t have been out here that year. And it’s been a long, long road since then. But I feel like since just before Q school, I think I realised that golf-wise I’m kind of back where I feel like I can be. I trust in my game again, and it was just the case of mentally then going out and believing that I can do it and trusting my ability and stuff.”
South Africa’s Casandra Alexander, the highest ranked player in the field, also surged up the leaderboard on Friday posting a round of 67 (-5) to move to eight-under par. She sits in solo fourth as she chases a second win on the LET.
Yesterday’s leader meanwhile, Czech Republic’s Kouskova, carded a 73 (+1) to fall back into T5 alongside English rookie Caley McGinty. The former had an excellent day in Australia firing a round of the day 65 (-7) which included no bogeys. The performance follows a T5 finish for McGinty at last week’s Ford Women’s NSW Open on her full LET debut.
The 25-year-old said: “It was good. I didn’t really have any expectations coming in today because I did not hit the ball well yesterday at all. So I was just honestly trying to get in a good rhythm with my swing and try and get that feeling a bit better.”
Five players round off the top-10 in a tie for seventh on six-under par. This groups includes India’s Pranavi Urs, England’s Alice Hewson, New Zealand’s Momoka Kobori, Ecuador’s Daniela Darquea and France’s Celine Herbin.
Elsewhere, Wales’ Lydia Hall carded the first hole-in-one of her career acing the 3rd from 119 yards.
Following 36 of action at Magenta Shores, 60 players made the cut which fell at one-over par.
The third round of the Australian Women’s Classic gets underway tomorrow at 8:22am. Watch live and follow all the action from tournament on our socials – @LETgolf on Instagram and X and Ladies European Tour on Facebook and YouTube.
