Whitney Hillier holds a one-shot lead heading into the weekend at the Big Green Egg Open, with a second successive round of 68 (-4) seeing the Australian star sit on -8 at the halfway mark in The Netherlands.
The 31-year-old has Sarah Schober for company at the top of the leaderboard after two rounds at Rosendaelsche Golf Club, with the Austrian rolling in an eagle on her penultimate hole of the day to keep in contention.
It was a similarly strong finish for Hillier on Friday, as she birdied each of her final three holes to hold the advantage with 36 holes left to play.
“I had a pretty good day today, I was patient more than anything, I had a couple of testing putts and a couple bogeys in between, but to finish off with three birdies was a good strong finish,” Hillier said.
“I was staying patient more than anything, this course is tight in some places so you have to be patient and pick small targets, so that’s what I’m trying to do.”
Things started well on day two for the Australian ace, with birdies on holes three and four seeing her set the early pace, while a dropped shot on the fifth was swiftly forgotten about with a birdie on eight.
And it looked as if another bogey on 14 was going to leave her among the leading pack heading into the weekend, before her final flurry saw her pull clear.
She continued: “I’m happy and I’m rolling with it, I’ve been working hard and that seems to be coming off now.
“There’s plenty more golf to go, I won’t be changing anything heading into the weekend, I’ve got George on the bag so he’ll keep me laughing and keep me happy, we’ll just take one shot at a time and whatever happens, happens.”
It looked as if Hillier was going to have a three-shot lead at the halfway point of the competition, only for Schober to arrow in an eagle on the eighth – her penultimate hole – to keep the pressure on at the top of the leaderboard.
It had been an up and down day for the Austrian before that point, with three birdies and three bogeys seeing her at level-par after her first 16 holes, before finishing the day with aplomb.
And it was made even more special by the fact it was her first eagle on Tour for over 18 months, with her last coming at the Andalucia Costa Del Sol Open De Espana back in November 2020.
“It was a little difficult for me to play today, I didn’t hit my tee shots as well as yesterday, but I made really good saves and stayed positive. I’ve been waiting…
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