Thailand’s Trichat Cheenglab fired a course record of 63 (-9) to lead by seven strokes at the halfway stage of the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España presented by Oysho.
The 2023 LET Order of Merit winner began the day in a share of the lead and started well with three birdies on the trot on holes two, three and four at Real Guadalhorce Club de Golf.
Cheenglab rolled in back-to-back birdies on the sixth and seventh holes before adding another on 12, and she finished in style with three birdies in a row to set a new course record and the lowest round of her Ladies European Tour (LET) career.
The 30-year-old was presented with a trophy to commemorate the course record by Real Guadalhorce Club de Golf and leads the LET season finale with a score of 15-under-par at the 36-hole mark.
“Yesterday, I said about finishing five-under-par every day and to have a total of -20 would be enough for me this week, but I got four bonus points today! The driver wasn’t as good as yesterday, but I could make very good up-and-downs,” said Cheenglab.
“I will credit to my boyfriend, who is my caddie, because I cannot read the lines with the slopes. It’s very hard to read the lines, but he helped me so I will give him the credit today.
“I didn’t have an easy putt until 17 because it was only three feet, it was still breaking a lot on the right. Most of them were 9-12 feet birdie putts and I made them. My putter is on fire.”
Cheenglab, who won the 2023 Big Green Egg Open, is still sticking to the same game plan despite having a seven-shot lead and believes her secret for the great day was her breakfast this morning.
“The win is still not safe for this golf course! I will still do the same plan to be five-under for the next two rounds,” she added. “As a Thai, we have rice at every meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner and also after dinner sometimes. That’s my secret today was to have katsu curry this morning.”
Italy’s Alessandra Fanali recorded a round of 66 (-6) on day two in Spain to climb up to second place in the leaderboard.
The Italian had two eagles in her round including a hole-out eagle on 10, as well as three birdies and one bogey to have a score of eight-under-par.
“I have been playing really solidly lately and I have been hitting my wedges really well, so I’m happy about it,” said Fanali.
“It was really good to have two eagles, one was a long putt and then on 10, it was a perfect touch with the hole-out. I almost had one more eagle on 12, it was very close. I was really happy.
“My season has been pretty consistent that’s what I’ve been looking for this year, I have already started on my swing the past two weeks. It’s showing off a little bit. I’m proud of myself, it’s my third year on Tour. I’m still learning so many things.
“I had no expectations for this week. This is a pretty good position to be in, I’m going to enjoy the last two rounds.”
French duo Nastasia Nadaud and Celine Herbin are in a share of third place on seven-under-par at the end of day two.
It was an up-and-down day for Nadaud, who started from the 10th tee, as she went birdie-bogey-eagle-birdie in her first four holes.
The 21-year-old then found some momentum rolling in three birdies on the trot on 15, 16 and 17 before doing it again on the second, third and fourth holes.
Nadaud then made three bogeys in four holes but also squeezed in another birdie – her ninth of the day – for a round of seven-under (65).
“I had a day of ups and downs, more ups than downs! It was really interesting, I started birdie-bogey-eagle-birdie and then I had a couple of birdies,” said Nadaud. “My putting was really good.
“I don’t think I’ve ever made that number of putts in a round of golf since a very long time or ever. It was really cool to get that eagle on 12 as well, that really helped mentally and I can’t believe I played seven-under with four bogeys.
“The struggle was to reset after the first nine and think this is another nine, it’s very different between the front and back. The goal was to reset as good as I could. I did it pretty well.
“I had a three-putt on five which stopped the dynamic and then struggled on six and had a silly bogey on eight. I managed to get birdie on seven and a nice par on nine. There was a lot of up and downs, but I know the game is right in every part of it.
“I’m looking forward to having a bit less bogeys than the two previous days, trying to stay simple with fairways and greens and see what happens.”
Six players are one shot further back on six-under-par including England’s Mimi Rhodes and Singapore’s Shannon Tan, who are battling for the 2025 LET Order of Merit title.
The duo both fired rounds of 67 (-5) on day two in Malaga and will tee it up in the same group for the third day in a row.
They are also joined by France’s Perrine Delacour, Wales’ Lydia Hall, Sweden’s Lisa Pettersson and Denmark’s Smilla Tarning Soenderby.
Round three will begin at 9.40 am (local time) with the leaders going out at 11.41 am (local time) at Real Guadalhorce Club de Golf.
Follow all the action throughout on our socials – @LETgolf on Instagram, TikTok and X, and Ladies European Tour on YouTube and Facebook – #OpenDeEspaña.
