A stunning bogey-free 65 on Friday has given Lauren Walsh a boost in a bid to finish in the top 20 at the Ladies Open de France.
The Kildare woman, who had carded a 74 on Thursday, is now up to three under and a tie for 27th, seven shots behind leader Anna Huang (68) of Canada, after her efforts in the second round around the Golf Barriere Deauville course in Normandy.
Walsh birdied the second but it was the back nine which saw her gain real momentum as she holed 12, 13 and 15 before finishing in style with back-to-back gains on 17 and 18.
It means she now leads the Irish challenge, with Anna Foster one shot further back on two under after a 69.
Annabel Wilson is another two shots back after also shooting 69, while Sara Byrne, who had been best placed of the Irish contingent going into Friday, slipped back to one over following a three-over 74.
However, the consolation for Byrne was that she just made the cut by one stroke for Saturday's final round of the 54-hole tournament.
Meanwhile, Huang will take a one-shot lead into Saturday, with the Canadian teenager on 10 under, ahead of the trio of Alessia Nobilio, Casandra Alexander and Helen Briem.
"Today was a really solid day, I was hitting it really well and I made a lot of putts on the back nine, so that helped," said LET rookie Huang, who secured a wire-to-wire victory at last week's La Sella Open.
"My driver wasn't as great today, I found myself in the trees a couple of times, but I was able to bounce back.
"With the calm weather this morning, I was definitely more aggressive with the pins. It was still a bit chilly out there but it’s always good when it’s calm.
"I have been really confident with my game recently and I’m really happy with where everything is at. The win has changed my mindset a lot. Winning by seven was crazy, so this week I was definitely a lot more confident in myself and chasing the leaderboard.
"France has been fun, this place is really nice. Tomorrow, I will have the same mindset as always. I will stay in the present and just focus on myself and hopefully, I don’t look at the leaderboard too many times."
