Dubai Ladies Masters second round leaderboard:
-7 L Hall (Wal) -6 A Nordqvist (Swe) -5 I Tinning (Den)
Selected others:-1 M Wie (US) +1 L-A Pace (SA)+4 L Davies (Eng)

Davies has won five tournaments this year on the European Tour

England's Laura Davies has all but conceded the Order of Merit to South Africa's Lee-Anne Pace after a second-round 73 in the Dubai Ladies Masters.

Davies, 47, who needed a top-two finish to be crowned Europe's top golfer, is four over in the United Arab Emirates.

"The tournament is over for me as far as I'm concerned," said Davies. "As for winning it or getting second place, it's not going to happen."

Wales' Lydia Hall shot a 67 to lead Sweden's Anna Nordqvist by a shot.

The 22-year-old from Bridgend carded seven birdies and two bogeys to climb from eighth to first on seven under in the season-ending event, with Nordqvist having fired a second-round 68.

IAIN CARTER'S BLOG She (Davies) remains the most recognisable female golfer in the United Kingdom and just three years short of senior status she continues to rack up the wins with her no-nonsense approach to the game

"I just played really solid approaches within 15 feet on the front nine," said Hall, who is ranked 396th in the world. "I was really pleased.

"I made a couple of mistakes on nine and 10, and three-putted on 10. I kind of refocused and moved on to 11 and made a good putt and kept doing it."

American Michelle Wie, who was visibly still troubled by a back injury, carded a 72 to sit six shots back after missing several birdie putts.

South African Pace, who shot 72 to remain one over, admitted the pressure was off her with Davies unlikely to catch her in the Order of Merit race.

"It makes me a little more confident going into the weekend," said Pace. "Now, I can sit back, relax and play the golf course and be at the top.

"I'll put in a bit of a chase tomorrow for the leaders and hopefully they can see my name on the board."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version