Kelsey Bennett continued her excellent form on Friday at the Lalla Meryem Cup firing a flawless 65 (-8) to move to 13-under par and sit in pole position heading into the final round.
She leads Pia Babnik by three shots who matched the Aussie’s score with a brilliant performance of her own on Royal Golf Dar Es Salam’s Blue Course.
Just like in round one, Bennett, a winner already this season at the Australian Women’s Classic, got off to a hot start birdying three of her first four holes at the 10th, 12th and 13th. The 26-year-old followed this up with another at the 15th to make the turn in 32 and steer clear of the chasing pack.
On to the front nine, Bennett’s back nine, and the Aussie would fire birdies and the 2nd, 3rd, 7th and 8th to sign for a 65 (-8) – one short of Bronte Law’s course record from 2024.
“After a good opening round it’s nice to follow it up,” Bennett said. “Honestly, I just holed the world today. My putter was on fire so that was good. I gave myself some very generous looks. The course is very undulated so you need to miss in the right spots. My driver is on one at the moment too so it helps to hit a lot of fairways around here.”
Bennett won her maiden Ladies European Tour (LET) title on home soil at Magenta Shores in March and currently sits fourth on the Order of Merit.
“It definitely helps having been in that position before,” the Australian said. “Knowing I converted that position. But it’s a different course, different country, different weather, you’ve just got to take each day as it is and hopefully my putter stays hot. I do get a little nervous out there but overly. I’m pretty chill.”
Babnik meanwhile, teeing up one group behind our leader, also went low firing nine birdies and dropping just one shot which came at the 14th.
Babnik is chasing a third LET victory this week following wins in 2021 at the Jabra Ladies Open and Aramco Team Series – Jeddah. The two-time Olympian has rekindled her best form following swing difficulties in 2023 and recently came close to winning the Investec SA Women’s Open where she finished third.
“It was a great day,” Babnik said. “I holed a few long putts and managed to hit a few shots really close. I really enjoyed today. I’m happy with my season so far. I’ve had a few good results, but you know, I’m still chasing that win and I know I can do better. I just need to practice more and try to improve.
“I’ll just try to do my best tomorrow. There’s a lot of really good players behind us too. I’ll try to keep it in the fairway, hit it close and then we’ll see. The greens will be a bit firmer in the afternoon tomorrow so it will be a little bit more tricky [to go low]. But I’m really looking forward for it.”
In a tie for third on seven-under par sit Italy’s Anna Zanusso and Canada’s Anna Huang. The former fired a round of 67 (-6) playing alongside Bennett and Kajsa Arwefjall who combined to shoot 19-under par on day two.
Defending champion Cara Gainer from England also remains in the mix after carding a 69 (-4) on Friday to move to six-under par for the tournament. Incredibly, Gainer eagled the 2nd and 8th holes at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam for the second consecutive day. She shares fifth spot alongside Finland’s Ursula Wikstrom and Spain’s Ana Pelaez Trivino through 36 holes in Morocco.
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