 |
| Gwladys Nocera – surged into second |
Calzavara, relatively unknown even in her own country, is no stranger to shooting low scores and she impressed with a course record 65 in the Netherlands’ KLM Ladies Open two years ago in her first year on Tour – a feat she says that she can easily repeat.
“I’m very relaxed. I had five birdies today and no mistakes. Yesterday seven birdies, so I am playing really well,” she said.
Nocera, who won her maiden title in Switzerland five weeks ago and who has dominated this year’s European number one spot after five top tens in six starts this season, climbed seven places to second today after a 71 yesterday and the French woman finished alone on a total of seven-under-par, just two shots off the pace.
Like Calzavara, Nocera was feeling under the weather today; but despite a stomach bug she continued to prove that she is one of the most talented players on the LET after a faultless round that included four birdies and an eagle at the par-five eighth hole where she chipped in from the back of the green.
“The hard work is paying off,” said Nocera, who moved to Biarritz four years ago to train with French Federation and men’s national coach Olivier Leglise.
“My swing is good; it’s more solid and consistent; my putting is more consistent as I’ve been working on it a lot. My big goal is to remain number one.”
 |
| English amateur Henrietta Brockway |
She has made the same number of cuts as 16-year-old English amateur Henrietta Brockway, who finished on a total of level par today after a second round of 74.
It was a brilliant effort from the Wiltshire-based teenager, who last made the cut in the 2005 OTP Bank Ladies Central European Open in Hungary.
Her 74 included two triple bogeys, two bogeys and six birdies. She was the only one of six amateurs to make the cut, but despite that, she had mixed feelings.
“There were a lot of silly shots today. I had six birdies but dropped eight shots so it was really frustrating,” she said. “After my triple, I had three straight birdies and I was one under after nine holes because I chipped in at the ninth; but then I had another triple and it was so frustrating. I wasn’t nervous at all.”
Brockway heads into the weekend already a star in Italy. In addition to the newspaper articles written about her, she is followed by a small army of autograph hunters. Most of these fans are under the age of ten, proving that the teenager has the potential to attract a whole new generation of fans to the women’s game.
