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Hall leads Ladies Dubai Masters after second round

Lydia Hall of Wales shot a 5-under 67 on Thursday to take a one-shot lead over Anna Nordqvist of Sweden in the second round of the Dubai Ladies Masters.

Michelle Wie fell further off the pace, hitting a 72 to lie six shots back after missing several birdie putts.

Hall, whose father played for the Wales rugby team, was in eighth place after the first round and wasn’t expected to make a run at the leaderboard. But she hit a 31 on the front nine, including five birdies, to move to the top at the season-ending tournament.

She went into the water on the ninth hole and then three-putted on No. 10 for another bogey before making birdies on her final two holes to regain the lead at 7-under 137.

“I just played really solid, approaches within 15 feet on the front nine,” said the 23-year-old Hall, who is ranked 396^th in the world. “I was really pleased. I made a couple of mistakes on 9 and 10, and three-putted on 10. I kind of refocused and moved onto 11 and made a good putt and kept doing it.”

Nordqvist made four birdies in a bogey-free round of 68 to sit one shot ahead of Danish veteran Iben Tinning, who has said she will retire after this tournament.

Tinning bogeyed the last two holes to lose a share of the lead, but remains in the hunt for a sixth career tour victory and first since 2005. Struggling with a long-standing hip injury, the 36-year-old Tinning said it would be “indescribable” to win in her final tournament.

“I’m not saying I don’t feel anything out there and definitely going for more pins,” Tinning said. “Why be a chicken at your last event?”

Three players are a further shot back at 4 under, including Russia’s Maria Verchenova who needs a top-20 finish to retain her European Tour card. She is tied with England’s Melissa Reid and Norway’s Marianne Skarpnord.

Meanwhile, England’s Laura Davies all but conceded the Order of Merit for the top women’s golfer in Europe to South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace after shooting a 73 to go to 4 over for the tournament. Davies needs to finish in the top two to overtake Pace.

“I didn’t play well again today. The timing is all out,” said Davies, who complained of fatigue after the first day. “The tournament is over for me as far as I’m concerned. As for winning it or getting second place which we were trying to do, it’s not going to happen, so obviously I am disappointed.”

Pace, who shot a 72 to remain 1 over for the tournament, said the fact that Davies is unlikely to catch her for the Order of Merit takes some of the pressure off heading into the weekend.

“It makes me a little more confident going into the weekend,” Pace said. “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.”

Monica V.Christiansen of Denmark was disqualified after she signed the wrong score on the fifth hole.