Queen, Thomson, Laing, Caithness beat halfway cut

Luna out to eclipse the field

at Eindhoven in Netherlands

FROM THE LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Italian Diana Luna grabbed the outright lead after the second round of the ABN AMRO Ladies Open in the Netherlands today.
The 26-year-old from Rome, who resides in Cannes, France, carded a two-under 70 on a windy day at Eindhovensche Golf, Eindhoven.
She leads on eight-under-par by two strokes from Spaniard Tania Elosegui.
Luna started at the 10th and birdied holes 15 and 18 to turn at eight-under. She dropped shots at the first and sixth holes but rallied with two further birdies at the seventh and ninth.
“It was a tough day. The wind was difficult and completely the opposite of the previous day,” said Luna, the 2004 Tenerife Ladies Open champion. “It made it difficult to judge which shot to play because yesterday it was a different course.”
Luna has skipped the event for the last two years due to her husband’s birthday and is playing the course for the first time. “This week is always my husband’s birthday, which is today, so happy birthday Fabio,” she said, adding that she would attempt to bring home the trophy as a present.
Elosegui, who was second to England’s Laura Davies at the Women’s Australian Open in February, is aiming for a maiden Ladies European victory after coming close on several occasions. She carded a 68, which included four birdies and was the lowest round of the day.
She said: “I’m very pleased because I was not hitting the ball very well in the morning but I managed to keep the score going. I made two good putts for par on the third and the seventh.”
First-round leader Titiya Plucksataporn from Thailand and Ireland’s Hazel Kavanagh tied for third on four-under-par. Plucksataporn added a 75 to her opening 65, while Kavanagh was level. “The wind was the main difference from yesterday,” Plucksataporn said. “Today it was one or two clubs more.”
Marjet van der Graaff is the best placed player from the Netherlands in a share of ninth place on one-under-par, with Christel Boeljon and amateur Marieke Nivard tied for 28th on two-over. Two-time winner and defending champion Gwladys Nocera from France was aiming to win the event for the third year running but missed the cut after rounds of 77 and 72.
English rookie Holly Aitchison, 22, scored her first career hole-in-one using a five-iron, but also missed the cut. She aced the 151-yard par-three 11th hole and was awarded €4000 by the tournament’s title sponsor, ABN AMRO.
SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 144 (2 x 72)
136 Diana Luna (Italy) 66 70.
138 Tania Elosegui (Spain) 70 68.
140 Hazel Kavanagh (Ireland) 68 72, Titiya Plucksataporn (Thailand) 65 75.
141 Stefania Croce (Italy) 70 71, Marianne Skarpnord (Norway) 67 74, Veronica Zorzi (Italy) 72 69.
Selected qualifiers:
143 Claire Queen (Scotland) 69 74 (jt 9th).
146 Michele Thomson (Scotland) 72 74, Vikki Laing (Scotland) 71 75 (jt 28th).
147 Krystle Caithness (Scotland) 68 79 (jt 47th).
MISSED THE CUT
149 Gwladys Nocera (France) 77 72, Rebecca Coakley (Ireland) 75 74, Miartina Gillen (Ireland) 74 75.
150 Lynn Kenny (Scotland) 79 71.
151 Pamela Feggans (Scotland) 74 77.