Australia's Karrie Webb, champion two years ago at Woburn, reached the halfway stage of the £525,000 Weetabix British Women's Open at Sunningdale yesterday three shots clear on nine-under-par 135. And after attaching a 70 to her opening 65, the world number two had few words of encouragement for her challengers.
Was there any department of her game that could do with improvement? "None," came the reply.
Not that Scotland's Kathryn Marshall or England's Trish Johnson, in joint second place on sixunder 138, have given up hope. Marshall, the 30-year-old Solheim Cup player, had a spectacular finish to her 68, holing a 10-yard bunker shot at the 18th.
Johnson admits she does not have the tunnel vision of player such as Webb - "Golf is the all-important to her; I don't have that sort of brain power." - but the adrenaline was flowing as she looked forward to the weekend. "I would love to win the British Open, it's such a huge tournament with all the best players taking part," she said after a rollercoaster round of six birdies and four bogeys.
But Alison Nicholas, the US Open Champion, was one too many after a 74 for 149.
Ireland's two challengers, Aideen Rogers and Barbara Hackett, both missed the cut. Rogers, from Dublin, had a second round of 78 to finish on 157, with Cork's Hackett on 154 following a 75.
Second round (Brit unless stated, Ire in bold. x denotes amateur, Par 72): 135 - K Webb (Aus) 65 70. 138 - T Johnson 68 70, K Marshall 70 68. 139 - B Mucha (US) 72 67. 140 - J Inkster (US) 69 71, R Jones (US) 70 70, C Matthew 70 70. 141 - C Sorenstam (Swe) 71 70, M Hirase (Jap) 76 65. 142 - T Barrett (US) 70 72, A Sorenstam (Swe) 72 70, H Dobson 73 69, B Burton (US) 73 69, C Johnson (US) 71 71. 143 - D Richard (US) 71 72, E Klein (US) 69 74, C Dibnah (Aus) 72 71, L Lambert (Aus) 70 73, A Dibos (Peru) 71 72, L Hackney 74 69, L Neumann (Swe) 68 75, B King (US) 71 72, K Tschetter (US) 73 70, xS Cavalleri (Ita) 70 73. 144 N Moult 74 70, J Morley 75 69, A Fruhwirth (US) 75 69, S Prosser 72 72, W Doolan (Aus) 74 70. 145 - A Gottmo (Swe) 75 70, L Fairclough 73 72, J Moodie 74 71, B Whitehead (US) 71 74, F Dassu (Ita) 76 69, L Kane (Can) 70 75, K Lunn (Aus) 74 71, R Hetherington (Aus) 75 70, H Alfredsson (Swe) 69 76, J Lidback (Peru) 71 74, M Spencer-Devlin (US) 71 75, S Waugh (Aus) 73 72, L Brooky (Nzl) 72 73, xE Esterl (Ger) 75 70. 146 - G Graham (Can) 73 73, H Wadsworth 77 69, S Maynor 72 74, A Yamaoka (Jap) 73 73, T Green (US) 74 72, S Strudwick 72 74. 147 - C Hj Koch (Swe) 76 71, C Schreyer (US) 70 77, S Farron (Nzl) 72 75, K Taylor 73 74, W Dicks 73 74, S Gustafson (Swe) 76 71, J Lee (Kor) 78 69, C Figg-Currier (US) 75 72, L Davies 74 73. 148 - D Barnard 74 74, K Parker-Gregory (US) 75 73, P Hurst (US) 76 72, H Kobayashi (Jap) 75 73, C Pierce 73 75, P Meunier Lebouc (Fra) 76 72, S Dallongeville (Fra) 71 77, M Murray 74 74, S Croce (Ita) 76 72, S Steinhauer (US) 72 76, M Estill (US) 74 74, M Koch (Ger) 73 75. Selected Non-qualifiers: 149 - A Nicholas 75 74. 154 - xB Hackett 79 75. 157 - A Rogers 79 78.
