Spanish amateur Cayetana Fernandez fired a sensational second round of 65 (-8) to lead the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España at the halfway stage.
The 17-year-old began the day on three-under and soon found some momentum making three consecutive birdies on holes four through six to make the turn in 33 (-3).
Related: Cara’s the ‘Gainer’ with birdie-making spree at Open de Espana
And Fernandez, who was part of the triumphant Team Europe at the 2021 PING Junior Solheim Cup, rolled in further birdies on 11, 13, 14, 15 and 18 to put her in pole position on 11-under-par heading into the weekend.
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“It makes me very happy,” said the teenager. “I played an amazing round today. I made a lot of putts, and I enjoyed it a lot.
“I’m very happy and I’m glad to be here and tomorrow I hope to continue playing like this and I hope to get in the last group on the last day.
“Playing the LET tournament in Madrid allowed me to get to know professional tournaments because they are very different than the amateur ones. I am nervous also, it’s a thing you can’t control but if you control it well it’s okay to have some nerves on course.
“Yesterday I was more nervous because I played with Azahara [Muñoz] and she’s a really good player. Today I was more relaxed, my sister is my caddie, so she was speaking with me all the time and I played with Carla another Spanish amateur. I was relaxed until 15 when all the cameras were there, but I finished with a birdie so I can’t be happier than I am.”
In second place and just one shot behind is 2022 Race to Costa del Sol leader Linn Grant, after she produced another round of 68 (-5) at Alferini Golf.
It was an error-free day for the four-time LET winner who made back-to-back birdies on eight and nine, before rolling in another on 11 and finishing with two more on 16 and 17 to put her on 10-under-par.
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Grant said: “I had a bit of a better start today than yesterday, still there’s a lot of birdie chances out there and I feel like I missed out on a couple.
“It was still a good round though and I feel excited about the weekend. It was stress-free in terms of not doing anything terrible, but still stressful in terms of not getting the ball where I wanted it.
“I feel like you hit pretty good shots onto the green and you think a putt is going to go one way and it goes the other, I’m not sure if it’s because a bit softer now it’s in the afternoon but they’re hard to read. I hope I have a better handle on the greens, but I’m not sure. I think I have to work on them a little bit.”
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Ireland’s Leona Maguire sits in third place after 36 holes having produced another solid round on day two, signing for a bogey-free 69 (-4) to be two shots behind the leader on nine-under-par.
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