Three women share the lead after the second round of the Ladies European Masters on Saturday.
Caroline Masson: Looking dangerous at the Ladies Masters
Caroline Masson, Ashleigh Simon and Klara Spilkova are all on 12 under par for the championship, one shot clear of Bree Arthur.
Masson was absolutely outstanding during her first round. While her second round was not bad, by any stretch of the imagination, she did take her foot off the proverbial peddle somewhat.
It could have actually been a flawless round for the German. However, a bogey at the par-three 18th ruined her prospects of securing the outright lead.
Masson eventually carded a three-under-par 69 for the round and all of her scoring was actually done on the front nine. She exploited the opportunity at the par-five second before adding birdies at the sixth and seventh holes.
She also exploited the second par-five at the ninth hole. However, the German failed to build on that early momentum as the round progressed. It was a quiet back nine, with the only drama unfolding at the 18th, where she dropped a shot.
Simon also carded a three-under-par 69 for the second round. However, unlike her German rival, the South African did all her scoring on the back nine. Her one blemish for the round came at the par-three seventh, a hole she also bogeyed during Friday's first round.
Simon bounced back on the ninth hole, which clearly inspired her somewhat, as she was actually quite prolific after that. Subsequent birdies came at the 13th, 14th and 17th. Spilkova was certainly the more consistent of the three golfers.
She carded a six-under-par 66 during her round, which was a repeat of her first round performance. Spilkova's actual scorecard for the second round was quite similar to that from the first round, which underpinned her consistency on this golf course.
As was the case during the first round, Spilkova made birdie at the 11th, 13th, 14th and 17th holes. However, she did make a blunder at the par-four 16th. The bogey was really insignificant in the context of the round, which also featured birdies at the first, fifth and sixth holes.
Arthur, who is one shot behind the leaders, was also quite consistent on Saturday and deserves to be at the top end of the leaderboard. Arthur carded four birdies on the front nine and she built on that with birdies at the tenth, 15th and 16th holes.
Her one blemish for the round came at the par-three 12th, a hole that she had birdied on the Friday.
Also in contention ahead of Saturday's third round are Marion Recordeau and Charley Hull, both of whom are on ten under par for the championship.
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