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, while Annabelle Wilson and Lauren Walsh are both in contention heading into the weekend.
Wilson is just four shots off the pace after her round of 67 left her on -7 for the tournament while Walsh signed for a round of 72 to leave her on -3, well inside the cut mark of -1.
Olivia Mehaffey and Sara Byrne were not as fortunate and both will be kicking their hells this weekend, having missed the cut. Mehaffey's round of 76 left her well off the pace while a second consecutive 73 wasn't enough for Byrne.
Tamburlini 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 25-year-old went back home after the Ford Women’s NSW Open to have a couple of weeks off for her wrist.
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 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.
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.
