- Team Hall sit at the top of the leaderboard on 24-under-par
- Nelly Korda holds a five-shot lead in the Individual competition
Team Hall and Nelly Korda sit at the top of the leaderboards at the end of a suspended day two of the Aramco Team Series presented by PIF – London.
The second round was suspended at 13.39 local time due to thunder and lightning in the surrounding area, but play got underway again at 15.10.
However, play was suspended due to bad light on Saturday evening and of the 36 teams, there are still two left to complete their second round but it is Team Hall who sit at the top of the pile on 24-under-par.
The quartet of Georgia Hall, Kylie Henry, Lea Anne Bramwell and amateur Michael Austick sat in third place overnight on 14-under but came strong in their finishing holes.
Despite incredibly windy conditions, Team Hall fired a round of 10-under-par which included a birdie on 17 and eagle on 18 to post the score to beat.
Captain Hall, who rolled in the eagle on 18, said: “It is extremely breezy out there and my 3-wood only went two hundred yards, but obviously I’m very happy with that. It contributed a lot to the team score, and we’ll see where we are at at the end of the day.”
“I’m not so sure it will be enough because there are still so many holes to be played out there for so many people, it’s a bit of a wait-and-see,” said Henry. “I think we’ve done really well anyway and it’s still going to be a really good finish for the team. I think we’re pretty happy with what we’ve done in these conditions.”
Bramwell added: “They were really difficult conditions and a couple of shots into the green were really hard to judge with the wind. It was really tricky.”
The quartet finished their round in the early afternoon, having teed it up this morning, but despite this they sit on the brink of victory with just two teams left to finish.
Team Hull, who led overnight, came up just short after firing a round of five-under-par on day two at Centurion Club to finish on 23-under-par.
Team Garcia are in third at 21-under with Team Carta on 20-under in fourth and four teams in a tie for fifth place on 19-under-par.
In the Individual competition, world number two Korda leads the way on nine-under-par after firing a round of 69 (-4) on Saturday.
The American opened with a birdie at the first and made her next on hole 13, she made a superb eagle on 15 but dropped a shot one hole later before finishing with a birdie on the last.
“It was really difficult,” said Korda. “It’s probably the most brutal weather I have played in a really long time. I would say this was one of my best rounds this year.
“[On the eagle] Yesterday when I played 15, the hole was kind of downwind and the hole was in off the left and Jason told me it was a three-shot hole for sure and there was no way I could get there in two.
“I just hit this bullet driver, I was hitting a controlled driver like a low stinger all day which was really helping me in the wind, and I got up to the ball and I just had a perfect number. I hit it really good and everything came together.
“It’s a lot of fun. Getting to play this type of golf occasionally is really fun where you get to be creative and hit these low stingers. I actually had a lot of fun out there, the weather may have not been too great but when you’re playing well in these rounds you get to play with a bit more creativity and a lot of fun.”
South Africa’s Nicole Garcia sits in outright second place on four-under-par after carding a round of 71 (-2) for a second consecutive day.
“The wind was quite tough today and the rain was quite tough yesterday, I’m pretty happy with my scores,” said Garcia, who was the guest on this week’s LET Golf Podcast.
“I was really lucky with my team. Maha [Haddioui] and I are really close so that really helped and Sofie [Bringner] played really well and it was a nice vibe and we had a nice amateur. Being finished before the delay was a big help, it was nice to be on that side of the draw. We did really well in the wind this afternoon.”
Sweden’s Sofie Bringner and Japan’s Yuri Onishi are in a share of third place on three-under-par at the end of the second day.
Bringner opened with two birdies on her front nine, before making another two on her back nine and only dropping one shot for a round of 70 (-3).
She said: “I’m happy with my round today, it was pretty windy out there so I‘m really happy to finish in the red numbers on three-under. I played solidly the whole day, I was steady from the tee. I really enjoyed it.”
While Onishi produced back-to-back birdies on the fourth and fifth holes but dropped shots on 10 and 12, however, she made up for it with birdies on 13 and 17 to seal a round of 71 (-2).
The rookie said: “The wind was so strong and it was very hard conditions, but my putting was good and I had many lucky moments. I enjoyed the round with my team. This tournament has many good players in it, so I’m excited to play tomorrow and have fun but I’m just focused on myself.”
Three players are in a tie for fifth place with Germany’s Leonie Harm, England’s Charley Hull and Spain’s Nuria Iturrioz on two-under-par.
Austria’s Emma Spitz, England’s Georgia Hall and Finland’s Noora Komulainen sit one shot further back rounding out the top 10 on one-under.
The final two teams will complete their round on Sunday morning, after that the winners of the Team competition can be declared and there will be a cut to the top-60 professionals and ties in the Individual competition.
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