Hinako Shibuno produced a round of 68 (-4) on the second day to hold a two-shot lead at the FREED GROUP Women’s Scottish Open Presented by Trust Golf.
The major champion started with a bogey on the first but soon turned her day around with a birdie on the second before adding another on the fifth.
Three more birdies on the back nine saw Shibuno seal a round of 68 as she leads at the top with a total of 12-under-par after 36 holes.
“I’m very sad about the three-putt at the first hole,” she said. “I had a birdie on the second hole. I think I did very well today, so I was not thinking about yesterday.
“The wind was getting weaker and weaker, but there was still some wind, and it was very difficult for me. Maja [Stark] has a good rhythm and plays good, it’s the best player to play with.
“I was very calm today. The first time I won was the AIG Women’s Open and that was still in the UK, so maybe I feel better being here.”
It was an impressive second round for Maja Stark who fired a 65 (-7) to climb into second place on 10-under-par, two shots behind the leader.
Despite a having a headache on the first six holes, that didn’t stop the six-time LET winner who rolled in birdies on three, five and eight.
A dropped shot on the 10th spurred the Swede on further before she made five consecutive birdies – the second time she has done that on the LET – for a round of seven-under.
“It was very solid today,” said Stark. “I had a really frustrating headache on the first six holes. I didn’t really care about my game, to be honest. Maybe it was a good thing that I didn’t really pay attention.
“But then we got that figured out and I started making some putts. The bogey on 10 really made me start sharpening up and then I just felt like everything went smooth. I had a lot of confidence today.
“I practice every day, and I have a lot of good focus putting and a lot of drills trying to match read with speed and everything. It just makes it easier to especially visualize out there because they have so many little subtle slopes here.
“I’ve noticed that I play better when I feel like I have lots of open spaces around me because it doesn’t feel like I focus on the wrong things. For example, Evian, I could only look at the trees that I could hit into, and then I do. It’s nicer to be here, and I love links golf, so I think that’s also a factor.”
France’s Celine Boutier and Australia’s Sarah Kemp are in a share of third place on seven-under-par after they both fired rounds of 68 (-3) on day two at Dundonald Links.
Boutier, who won last week’s Amundi Evian Championship, only dropped two shots and rolled in six birdies.
“This morning was definitely a little bit less windy than yesterday and I feel like I had a lot of birdie chances,” said the major champion, who finished as runner-up here in 2022.
“More birdies than yesterday, so that was that pretty positive. I feel like my game is in place. I’m just hoping to keep going for the weekend.
“I am pretty tired, not going to lie. It was very tough to find some energy on the last nine, but I was able to finish the round, and I’m just going to do my best to rest for the weekend.”
It was a similar story for Kemp who had two bogeys and three birdies on her front nine before adding three more birdies on her back nine.
Kemp explained: “It’s just nice and solid. I feel like I hit a lot of fairways and if I just missed it, it was just a yard or two off. I’m pretty sure I hit a lot of greens, and I definitely holed some putts.
“I joking with my caddie, the longest putt I holed last week I think was like 15 or 16 feet, and I holed a 24-footer today, so pretty happy with that. It was just nice and solid, and I putted really well.
“Last week my coach from Australia came in and watched me play and I made a putter change a few weeks back, and my speed’s just been really good. I’ve got a good feel for some speed at the moment. A combination of those things.“
The top three players, who make the cut at the FREED GROUP Women’s Scottish Open and are not otherwise exempt, will also qualify for next week’s AIG Women’s Open and Kemp currently sits at the top of the list.
She added: “That’d be a great bonus, but I’ve got a long way to go until I can get one of those spots. If I can keep up what I’m doing, I might have a shot.”
Sweden’s Madelene Sagström sits in outright fifth place on five-under-par after carding a second round of 73 (+1) in Scotland.
Eight players are in a tie for sixth place on four-under-par including 2022 Race to Costa del Sol champion Linn Grant, England’s Eleanor Givens, Sweden’s Linnea Ström and Denmark’s Nicole Broch Estrup.
Grant said: “It was a bit easier today than yesterday, at least for the first nine. I played really good. I hit the ball really well and obviously, I had Steven, I had my coach here the first couple days, so I feel like we really went through some good work.
“I kind of hoped for another couple putts to roll in, but that’s the greens out here. Otherwise, it was a solid round. Over the next two days, I will need a lot of patience. Just go out, people are going to struggle, so will probably I, but bogeys are made and just kind of keep going and even though you make some mistakes.”
The cut fell at +3 with 74 players making it through to the weekend with the final group teeing off at 11.55 am on Saturday morning.
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