Kelsey Bennett continued her excellent form on Friday at the Lalla Meryem Cup firing a flawless eight-under 65 to move to 13 under par and sit in pole position heading into the final round.
She's three shots clear of Slovenian Pia Babnik who matched the Aussie's score with a brilliant performance of her own on Royal Golf Dar Es Salam’s Blue Course.
Aine Donegan is the best of the Irish contenders. A 71 moved Donegan to one under for the tournament, a shot ahead of Anna Foster who carded a 73 on Friday. Sara Byrne is two over, while Annabel Wilson's 77 saw her drop back to seven over par.
Just like in round one, Bennett, a winner already this season at the Australian Women’s Classic, got off to a hot start birdying three of her first four holes at the 10th, 12th and 13th. The 26-year-old followed this up with another at the 15th to make the turn in 32 and steer clear of the chasing pack.
On to the front nine, Bennett’s back nine, and the Aussie would fire birdies at the second, third, seventh and eighth to sign for a 65 – one short of Bronte Law’s course record from 2024.
Bennett won her maiden Ladies European Tour (LET) title on home soil at Magenta Shores in March and currently sits fourth on the Order of Merit.
Babnik meanwhile, teeing up one group behind our leader, also went low firing nine birdies and dropping just one shot which came at the 14th.
In a tie for third on seven under par sit Italy’s Anna Zanusso and Canada’s Anna Huang. The former fired a round of 67 playing alongside Bennett and Kajsa Arwefjall who combined to shoot 19 under par on day two.
Defending champion Cara Gainer from England also remains in the mix after carding a 69 on Friday to move to six under par for the tournament. Incredibly, Gainer eagled the second and eighth holes at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam for the second consecutive day. She shares fifth spot with Finland’s Ursula Wikstrom and Spain’s Ana Pelaez Trivino through 36 holes in Morocco.
After two day of action, the cut fell at two over par with 68 players making it through to Saturday’s final round. This includes home players Maha Haddioui who bounced back with a 69 on Friday and 18-year-old amateur Rim Imni.
