It was not quite the Sunshine State that Suzann Pettersen calls home in the US but when that big, sizzling sphere of raging hot plasma makes an appearance in Scotland you’ve got to make hay while it sparkles.
“I live in the Sunshine State but we don’t play in the Sunshine State all the time,” said this Florida-based woman for all seasons. It was something resembling summer at Dundonald Links on day two of the £360,000 Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open. Today, we might be back to the middle of autumn given the forecast of rain and wind. Whatever the elements, Pettersen is up for the challenge. A two-under 70 in pleasantly bright but menacingly breezy conditions on the Ayrshire coast gave the 34-year-old Norwegian a six-under aggregate of 138 and a two stroke advantage over England’s Holly Clyburn heading into the closing round.
“It turned out to be a lot windier than we anticipated and the back nine was playing tough,” added the world No 7, who could have extended her lead on the 18th with a birdie putt of nine feet that failed to drop. “Once you got to 12, it was all into the wind, straight down and off the right, so it was tough. You’ve got to be on top of your game. If it does blow how they say it will blow, it will be quite a challenge. A little breeze and all of a sudden you’re looking at a two club difference.”
Clyburn came barging into the hunt late in the day with a best-of-the-week 67 that could have been even lower. “I missed a stupid two-footer for birdie on 14 and then shaved the hole on the last three,” said the former Curtis Cup player. Her birdie on the par-5 fifth was something out of the ‘Dundonald Uncovered’ brochure as she explored the deep rough with a wild tee-shot but salvaged the situation superbly. “Most folk would’ve been happy with a six,” she added.
Lydia Ko’s assault on the title was hindered by a damaging back-nine as the world No 2 stumbled to a one-over 73 for a 141. Two-under at the turn, the 18-year-old leaked shots at the 12th, 13th, 15th and 17th but she stopped the bleeding on the par-5 18th with a classy approach which finished just five-feet behind the flag. The birdie opportunity was duly gobbled up. “I got a little bit stressed out today,” admitted Ko. “I had a couple of bad club selections. I was long on the 12th and short on the 13th and I just kind of lost it a bit. It took me a couple of holes to get over it and say to myself ‘hey, you've got to have fun’. But it's sometimes hard to think all positive when it's so tough out there. You're playing good but nothing is going for you.” Welcome to links golf.
She may be 34 years younger than Ko but Laura Davies – sorry, Dame Laura Davies – kept clinging to the coat tails of the young whippersnapper with a second successive 71 that tucked her into a share of fourth place on a 142.
Having been left wary about unleashing the driver, Charley Hull, the 19-year-old from Kettering who topped the European circuit’s order of merit last season, adopted a safety first approach to affairs during the opening round but it didn’t lead to much success as she toiled to a 76. Yesterday she went on the offensive and brought out the heavy artillery as she mounted a spirited salvage operation and carded a four-under 68 to move up the order with a level-par 144. A blether with her coach certainly helped even if the rather colourful pearls of wisdom that were passed on were not what you’d tend to find in the pages of ‘The Illustrated Guide to Improving Your Golf’.
“I wasn’t comfortable with my driver and the way I was hitting it so I spoke to my coach at night and he said ‘grow a pair of balls and hit it around here’,” revealed Hull of this fairly frank exchange that conjures up some bewildering imagery. “I hit a lot of drivers and 3-woods today and I did much better.”
The testing, stiff breeze that added to the Dundonald rigours seemed to suit Hull and she harnessed the conditions to good effect with a haul of five birdies which more than made up for a dropped shot on the very first hole. “It was a two club wind sometimes,” added the Solheim Cup player. “I prefer it when it’s windy so the windier it is the better it is for me, I feel.”
Kelsey MacDonald slipped to an eventful three-over 75 but still leads the Scottish challenge on the fringes of the top-10 with a one-over 145. It could have been worse. Two double-bogeys, to add to a trio of dropped shots on the first three holes of her inward half, had the 24-year-old on the back foot but she kept plugging away and a 15-footer down the hill for a birdie on her last hole was a reward for her resolve.
“I fought really, really hard on the back nine to try and stop it getting away from me,” said MacDonald after making her first cut of the campaign.
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