Adelaide: Thailand's Pornanong Phatlum shot a three-under-par 70 in the second round to stay one shot off the pace at the Women's Australian Open yesterday.
Pornanong had a two-day total of 138 and was joint second along with Americans Lizette Salas (70) and Marissa Steen (71) and Sweden's Caroline Hedwall (69).
Australia's Sarah Jane Smith seized the outright lead following a 67 for 137 as world No.1 Lydia Ko of New Zealand and No.2 Ariya Jutanugarn scraped past the cut.
Pornanong once again had a solid round with four birdies and one bogey.
"Today I just tried to play with confidence. The wind was the biggest problem. I just went out to have fun and enjoy the course," said the Chaiyaphum native who is chasing her first LPGA Tour title.
Smith hit the front with a tap-in birdie at the par-five 17th and by the time she teed off at the 18th, news filtered through that overnight leader Katherine Kirk had dropped another shot to finish the round and lie two shots off the pace.
Smith went down the last fairway and almost chipped in for birdie, eventually tapping in to finish with six birdies.
Kirk, who faded late with a double bogey at her 17th, held the outright lead at several points of the day before dropping back but was still right in contention.
Smith admitted she would be thinking about the winning the tournament, even though there are two days to go.
"I'd be lying if I didn't think about but obviously that's not the main focus over the next two days," Smith said.
"But obviously it'd be a dream come true and something I think every young Australian thinks about at some point. So to be even in a position right now, it's very exciting."
It was a tough day for Ko, looking out of sorts with her new clubs, new coach and new caddie, as she made the cut by one shot and is nine shots from the lead.
The New Zealand star, who has held the top ranking for 69 consecutive weeks, had an up-and-down round of four birdies and six bogeys.
Ariya, who had five wins on the LPGA Tour last year, also has some work to do at two under, while South Korea's Jang Ha-Na at three-under is still in the mix.
Canada's Brook Henderson needed to make a putt of more than one metre for bogey at the 18th to make the cut.
Australia's record five-time champion Karrie Webb, 42, missed the cut for the first time in her illustrious Australian Open history, finishing at three-over.
"It hurts to miss any cut and I don't like that at all," Webb said. "It's not the start I was looking for this year, but it's a long year." bangkok post/afp