Switzerland’s Chiara Tamburlini fired a round of 65 (-7) to hold a one-shot lead at the halfway stage of the Investec SA Women’s Open.
The three-time LET winner began the day three shots off the pace in T10, but had a bogey-free second day around Erinvale Country & Golf Estate.
Starting her round on the 10th tee, Tamburlini got off to a hot start with back-to-back birdies, then added two more on the 16th and 17th. After making the turn, the 25-year-old continued her momentum with three additional birdies, finishing the round at seven-under par.
“I’m really happy with how I played today”, said the Swiss. “I had a couple of pars but all the chips that I hit, I hit them fairly close. I converted some of my good approaches and just overall a really good day.”
It was a warm day in Cape Town, with the wind picking up halfway through Tamburlini’s round. “We’ve been having some bad weather so I’m not complaining about that. The wind that picked up on the back nine was very on and off, so you had to be adjustable the whole time”, she said.
The 2024 LET Order of Merit and Rookie of the Year winner is not adding any pressure to her game and instead is breaking it down into smaller goals for herself. “It’s going to be difficult to achieve that again, because there is a lot of good players out there. Of course, I want to try and win a tournament again, but for that I know I need to hit a good bunch of shots and that’s what I’m trying to focus on,” she continued.
The Swiss also posted the round of the day, carding a seven-under par to better yesterday’s score by three shots.
(Chiara Tamburlini and Marta Martin during the second round)
Just one-shot back is France’s Perrine Delacour – the overnight leader – who impressively stayed bogey-free through 35 holes before dropping her only shot of the tournament on the final hole.
“It’s definitely been two good days of golf. It helps a lot with the view, even if I made a three-putt on the last. You look at the view and it’s like, ok it’s fine, it’s just golf, so I’m looking forward for the weekend”, said the 31-year-old.
“The winds seem to pick up at one point quite a bit, but it was very much on and off the whole time. It’s a matter of staying patient, because we can’t control how much the wind is going to affect the ball. I’m just going to try my best for the next two days and see where it goes.”
It has been a low-scoring start to this tournament, with Germany’s Aline Krauter – also yesterday’s tied leader with Delacour, on eight-under par after 36 holes.
The 25-year-old, who has a local caddie this week, is still very much in contention heading into the weekend.
“The day was a little rougher than yesterday. I think I struggled a little bit more, but overall still really steady. I had a couple of loose shots out there, but that’s ok. If I can roll some good putts at the weekend, that’d be nice, and just see where my game takes me. I’m just happy my game is trending in the right direction, no matter what happens,” she said.
Seven players sit in a share of fourth place after 36 holes. England’s Bronte Law, France’s Nastasia Nadaud, South Africa’s Kiera Floyd and Gia Raad, Germany’s Laura Fuenfstueck, Australia’s Kelsey Bennett, and Northern Ireland’s Annabel Wilson all sit on seven-under par.
Following 36 holes, the leading South African is Kiera Floyd, currently sitting in T4. Floyd nearly had a bogey-free round and was so close to making it near to Tamburlini, however a three-putt bogey on the last hole secured her seven-under par (67).
There was another hole-in-one on 14 from South Africa’s Danielle du Toit. This marks the second hole-in-one in two days after Namibia’s Bonita Bredenhann was able to make ace on the same yesterday.
The cut fell at one-under par with 70 players making it through to the final two days of action.
The third round of the Investec SA Women’s Open gets underway tomorrow morning at 9:00am (local time), with the leaders teeing off at 11:01am (local time).
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