England’s Mimi Rhodes and Czech Republic’s Sara Kouskova are the new leaders at the Ford Women’s NSW Open after both carded career-low rounds on Friday in Wollongong.
Related: Iturrioz, Rudgeley set the pace in windy Wollongong
The two are tied at the top on 12-under par with round two suspended for the day. A total of 10 players are still left to finish with darkness set in New South Wales.
Rhodes had a round to remember carding 10 birdies en route to a course-record 62 (-9) at Wollongong Golf Club. This included a fabulous finishing birdie at the par-3 8th after she had to wait over an hour to make the 10-foot putt because of a thunder and lightning suspension.
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“It was honestly an incredible day,” the Curtis Cup winner said. “Nothing really went wrong out there. I didn’t miss a fairway and only missed one green and everything just slipped into place nicely.
“I’ve had a couple eight under-pars last year, so I kind of knew how to deal with the feelings out there and the nerves. But yeah, definitely in the top three rounds ever and I’m really excited to keep going.
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“I’m glad there’s two more days. I love four day tournaments. I just feel like people, the more consistent you are with your game going to come out on top. So yeah, I’m just looking forward to the next two days.”
With little light left on Friday evening, Kouskova matched the rookie’s tally thanks to a bogey-free round of 63 (-8).
The Czech star also had to deal with the thunder suspension being pulled from the 13th hole where she was putting for eagle. Kouskova kept her composure after the restart to convert the big bird. She would card six birdies elsewhere for a flawless round of golf.
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The terrific total is her lowest ever on the Ladies European Tour (LET), with the score equalling her previous best score at last year’s KPMG Women’s Irish Open.
Kouskova said: “Lots of good golf I would say! Finishing in the dark was very tough. I hit an absolutely amazing shot into 13. Then we had to get it going again [after the restart]. The wind switched so it was totally different.
“The final two holes were tough because I couldn’t really see! I hit lots of good shots and my woods and hybrid went really well today. I don’t think I’ve ever hit so many good shots!”
In solo third on nine-under par is one of yesterday’s leaders, Kirsten Rudgeley. The home favourite carded a second round 68 (-3) to hold the lead on her own momentarily following the morning wave.
“Again, it was a pretty relaxing round of golf,” the Australian said. “I didn’t really do too much wrong, and if I did, my putter helped me out—which is always a nice bonus.
“I’m playing steady, and we’ll see how the rest of the week goes. You’re never going to play a perfect round of golf, so I’ll go do a bit of shopping now and chill out, I think.”
Spain’s Blanca Fernandez and Sweden’s Moa Folke share fourth on eight-under par. The former – an LET rookie – made a brilliant birdie on the 18th to card a 65 (-6) while the latter recovered from a triple-bogey at her penultimate hole, the par-4 7th, to birdie the par-3 8th and post a round of 66 (-5).
Italy’s Alessandra Fanali is well in the mix after she shot up the leaderboard on Friday thanks to a 66 (-5). She shares sixth spot on seven-under par with two fellow Olympians, the left-handed duo of Kim Metraux from Switzerland and Diksha Dagar from India.
 at Wollongong Golf Club.){kind=link}