Martina Gillen of Team Ireland was the only one of the four Irish players to make the cut at the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters on Thursday, after a two under par round proved enough to stay three shots inside the cut of 3 over par – albeit nine shots behind the new tournament leader, Lydia Hall of Wales.
Gillen carded three birdies on reaching the ninth and dropped the only shot of the day on the 6th - on the homeward leg - to end the day with a 70. Facing a trip to the Ladies European Tour Final Qualifying School next week, at La Manga, Gillen should gain from playing the extra two rounds at the Emirates Golf Club this weekend.
Hazel Kavanagh saw her level par start fizzle out at the season finale with a second round 78 to end with 6 over par total and will be joined on the early flight home by Rebecca Coakley, who signed for a one over par 73, for a 9 over par total. The struggling form of Tara Delaney continued after the Carlow native finished the day with a 77 for a 145 over par total.
New Leader Lydia Hall completed her second round in a five-under par 67 to take a one-shot lead at the halfway stage with 22-year-old from South Wales recording seven birdies and two bogeys to climb from eighth to first.
Anna Nordqvist of Sweden finished in second place after a second round of 68 with Denmark’s Iben Tinning in third, one shot further back after a 69.
Russian Maria Verchenova, Norwegian Marianne Skarpnord and England’s Melissa Reid ended the day tied for fourth.
Hall started out with a hat-trick of birdies and turned in a four under 31 after picking up two more shots on the sixth and the eighth holes and then came home in a one-under 36 after a bogey at the 10th and two closing birdies.
“I just played really solid. Tee to green was really, really good; approach shots within 15 feet on the front nine,” said Hall, the third year Ladies European Tour player, who this season posted a career best tie for sixth at the Lalla Meryem Cup in Morocco.
“I just played really solid and the putts, got them rolling. I was really pleased. I made a couple of mistakes on nine and 10 with a three putt on 10, but I just refocused and gained concentration.”
Although Hall hasn’t played competitively for 10 weeks she has been working on her game at Machynys Peninsula Golf and Country Club with her coach John Peters, who is acting as her caddie this week.
Overnight leader Florentyna Parker of England carded a 75 and ended the day five shots back in 10th with American Michelle Wie signing for a level-par 72 to finish in a tie for 16th position.
In the race for the Henderson Money List title, Lee-Anne Pace’s only challenger Laura Davies effectively conceded defeat in her battle to claim Europe’s number one crown as she needed a top three finish to overtake the South African. However, a 73 left Davies tied 48th on four-over, while Pace was three shots better, in a tie for 26th after carding a 72.
Davies said: “The tournament is over for me as far as I'm concerned. It's now just a matter of playing and trying to get a couple of really good under par rounds on the weekend.”
“She's going to win the Money List. She's won more money than me and imagine she'll have a decent round today and go clear and win the Money List in style now so good luck to her. She's had a great year,” Laura Davies said.
