Lauren Walsh takes clubhouse lead in Tenerife
Lauren Walsh has surged into the clubhouse lead at the halfway point of the Tenerife Women's Open at Abama Golf.
After an opening round of 67 to share the first-round lead, Walsh fired in a neat 68 to sit three shots clear at the top with nearest challenger Sofie Kibsgaard Nielsen still left with her final nine holes to play.
Walsh, chasing her maiden success on the Ladies European Tour, started with a bogey on the first but a run of six birdies in 10 holes saw her temporarily move to 10-under par.
Back-to-back bogeys at the 13th and 14th suggested a stumble, but a fine approach at the par-five 17th allowed her to get back to nine-under with a missed birdie putt at the last preventing her from matching Thursday's score.
Danish golfer Nielsen, also chasing her first LET win after three triumphs on the Access Tour, birdied her first hole but a bogey at her ninth – the 18th – saw her fall back to six-under par.
It was a nightmare day, however, for some of the other Irish golfers in the field, none more so than Anna Foster whose promising opening 71 was followed by a disastrous 82 to leave her on nine-over par, well outside the projected cut-line of three-over.
Starting on the 10th, Foster had a triple-bogey and a double-bogey on her card in the first four holes with her scorecard dotted with five further bogeys.
After starting with a 75, Canice Screene knew that a good round was required to make the weekend but she ended up one 12-over after an 81 that also included a triple-bogey.
Annabel Wilson is also set to miss the cut after carding a 75 to leave her on eight-over par.
Sara Byrne, however, shot an excellent 71 to give her an outside chance of making it through to Saturday. She sits on four-over par, just a stroke outside the cut-line at present with a bogey on her penultimate hole – the eighth – possibly proving decisive.
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