Madsen joins leader Hall; Aditi, Annabel close behind

‘I have been having a few bad rounds the last couple of months and I don’t really know why. The game just hasn’t been what I want it to be. I’ve done a lot of hard work with my new putter. When you’re tired of something it’s good to try something new’

Another now-sunny now-cloudy day, another day of near-perfect conditions, and it was again a day of high scores at the Qatar Ladies Open, the Ladies European Tour event at the Doha Golf Club here.
At the halfway mark of the inaugural edition, it was a two-way tie for the lead with Nanna Koerstz Madsen of Denmark joining overnight leader Lydia Hall of Wales with nine-under totals.
A stroke behind, on tied-second, were Indian teenager Aditi Ashok and Annabel Dimmock of England, followed by Alexandra Vilatte Farret of France a further stroke back.
Madsen, only in her second year on the professional tour, shot a six-under-par 66 to add to her 69 on the opening day to seize a share of the lead alongside Hall. She sunk seven birdies, but for a lone bogie, on the par-four 15th – she also stumbled on the same hole in Wednesday’s first round – that stopped her from going on top.
“My driving was good and the putting was better than the last couple of months,” said Madsen, who has had a relatively quiet stretch since winning the Tipsport Golf Masters in the Czech Republic in June, with just one top-10 finish, in the Spanish Open, since then.
“I’ve been having a few bad rounds the last couple of months and I don’t really know why. The game just hasn’t been what I want it to be. I’ve done a lot of hard work with my new putter. When you’re tired of something it’s good to try something new. I think it’s working,” added the 23-year-old Dane.
Co-leader Hall too has a fresh driver in her bag this week and a new caddie in tour professional Paul Doherty. “He’s experienced, he’s been playing on the Challenge Tour and Mena Tour, he’s a good player, so he knows what it’s like to be in certain positions and how to go about it when under pressure. It’s great to have someone who knows how I’m feeling and he’s keeping me in the present,” said Hall.
The 2012 Ladies British Masters champion had five birdies and one bogey in her second-round 67. “I’ve been playing fairly solidly from tee to green and hopefully I can get the putts going tomorrow. The best part is I have playing error-free – I’ve only had one bogey over two days. It’s been quite plain sailing really,” she added.
Aditi, fresh from her title win in the Hero Women’s Indian Open champion last week, hit six birdies in a bogey-free round of 66 – which was the best score of the day till it was matched by Madsen later in the day.
“Today was really good. I didn’t give myself enough chances yesterday so I did that today and I feel it was really good,” said Aditi. “I’m feeling confident in my game and today was a great day. I hope I can keep the momentum going. I putted really well and four of my birdie putts were outside eight feet, so those were good. I made a 15-footer for par as well on the 14th, and I hit the ball well. It was a satisfying day.”
Dimmock, who returned a 67, said: “My long game was really good but I still left a few short putts short. I’m really pleased.”
Swedish trio Linda Wessberg, Caroline Hedwall and Johanna Gustavsson were tied for fourth along with overnight co-leader Noora Tamminen of Finland, all at six-under, while seven players were on five-under-par.