MELISSA REID LEADS BY ONE IN PRAGUE MASTERS

 
NEWS RELEASE FROM THE LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR
By BETHAN CUTLER, LET Media Manager

England’s Melissa Reid (picture by Tristan Jones, LET) holds a one-stroke lead going into the final round of the Raiffeisenbank Prague Golf Masters after firing a second round of five under par 67 at Albatross Golf Resort in the Czech Republic today.

Reid finished the first 36 holes with a total of nine under par and will now have her sights trained on a fourth Ladies European Tour victory.

Italian Stefania Croce fired a bogey-free 66 and ended only one shot behind at eight under, followed a stroke further back by Germany’s Elisabeth Esterl.

Reid was at 10 under after carding six birdies in her first 12 holes but dropped a shot at the 17^th.

The 24-year-old from Derbyshire birdied the second and then reeled off three birdies in a row from the seventh before picking up two more shots at holes 11 and 12.  

TOUGH DRIVING HOLE

“I hit the ball well, didn’t really do much wrong. I lost a bit of concentration on 17. It’s a tough driving hole so I thought, I only had a sand wedge in my hand so thought I’d got it, so just a little bit of a lack of concentration, but  apart from that I played very, very solid,” said Reid.

“The first nine holes are very score-able. I’ve never seen the course before until yesterday but I think the course is absolutely fantastic. I think it’s in superb condition and it’s going to be one of my favourite courses of the year now.

“I think the last four or five holes are very good finishing holes. 17 and 18 are very, very tricky and definitely the hardest holes on the course, I would say. I just think it’s a difficult finish and if you par in the last four holes, I mean, you’re going to pick up at least one shot on the field.”

Reid is playing in her first tournament in six weeks since the Turkish Airlines Ladies Open after her mother, Joy, was killed in a car accident in Germany just before Reid was due to play in the UniCredit Ladies German Open. 

LOW ANTICIPATION 

She said: “Obviously with what’s gone on and stuff I wasn’t really expecting much of this week so I worked very hard the last ten days to get myself in a bit of shape and it’s just nice to see that things are working out well. 

"I just think I’m not putting any pressure on myself. I’m just going to go out and enjoy playing golf again.”

Croce, winner of the 1992 Ford Classic at Woburn, mastered the fine but windy conditions, with six birdies, spaced equally over the front and back nine. Birdies on the sixth, eighth, ninth, 10^th, 13^th and 15^th helped her return the best score of the day.

“It was not easy because today was windy but I kept my concentration, I made some beautiful putts and I didn’t make many mistakes. The mistakes that I made, I recovered, so that was good, all birdies, no bogeys, so six under,” Croce said.

First-round co-leader Esterl, who opened with a 66, battled for a 71 to stay in the hunt and commented: “I found it a bit tougher and the hole was smaller today so I got a good back nine but I struggled on the front nine and the wind was a bit swirly. It got quite strong and the pins were a bit more tricky, I guess. 

FOUGHT BACK WELL

“Overall I fought back well. The second nine, I was quite pleased but it wasn’t quite as free as yesterday so I have to do a bit more work and maybe a few more beers tonight and get loosened up again for tomorrow. It’s been a long time and I’m really looking forward to it. I’m just going to go out and enjoy myself and add it up at the end.”

Fellow first round co-leader Veronica Zorzi of Italy lies at six under par alongside Australian Stacey Keating and England’s Rebecca Hudson, who put in an impressive round of 68.

Frenchwoman Sophie Giquel-Bettan carded a 67 and lies in a group one further back alongside South African Lee-Anne Pace and Italian Diana Luna.

However Frenchwoman Jade Schaeffer, the 2011 champion and local player Klara Spilkova were both on their way home after ending on a 36-hole total of three over par and missing the cut by a stroke.

SECOND-ROUND TOTALS

Par 144 (2x72)
135 Melissa Reid (ENG)  68 67

136 Stefania Croce (ITA)  70 66

137 Elisabeth Esterl (DEU)  66 71

138 Stacey Keating (AUS)  69 69, Veronica Zorzi (ITA)  66 72, Rebecca Hudson (ENG)  70 68

139 Lee-Anne Pace (ZAF)  68 71, Diana Luna (ITA)  70 69, Sophie Giquel-Bettan (FRA)  72 67

140 Nikki Garrett (AUS)  69 71

141 Elin Emanuelsson (SWE)  70 71, Caroline Afonso (FRA)  72 69, Karen Lunn (AUS)  72 69, Ashleigh Simon (ZAF)  71 70

142 Gwladys Nocera (FRA)  72 70, Laura Davies (ENG)  69 73, Anais Maggetti (CHE)  71 71, Anne-Lise Caudal (FRA)  70 72, Kiran Matharu (ENG)  71 71, Beth Allen (USA)  73 69, Bree Arthur (AUS)  73 69, Marianne Skarpnord (NOR)  71 71, Eleanor Givens (ENG)  69 73

143 Felicity Johnson (ENG)  71 72, Rachel Bailey (AUS)  70 73, Ursula Wikstrom (FIN)  72 71, Sahra Hassan (WAL)  71 72, Rebecca Codd (IRL)  75 68, Joanna Klatten (FRA)  71 72, Georgina Simpson (ENG)  73 70, Nontaya Srisawang (THA)  73 70, Carlota Ciganda (ESP)  73 70, Jenni Kuosa (FIN)  69 74, Marjet Van Der Graaff (NLD)  70 73

144 Laura Cabanillas (ESP)  73 71, Mikaela Parmlid (SWE)  72 72, Line Vedel (DNK)  76 68, Caroline Masson (DEU)  72 72, Stephanie Na (AUS)  71 73, Vikki Laing (SCO)  75 69, Lisa Holm Sorensen (DNK)  71 73, Esther Choe (USA)  76 68, Lynnette Brooky (NZL)  71 73, Miriam Nagl (DEU)  73 71, Liebelei Lawrence (LUX)  75 69, Florentyna Parker (ENG)  74 70, Connie Chen (ZAF)  68 76

145 Rebecca Artis (AUS)  71 74, Lotta Wahlin (SWE)  74 71, Tandi Cuningham (ZAF)  76 69, Celine Palomar (FRA)  72 73, Margherita Rigon (ITA)  73 72, Hannah Burke (ENG)  74 71

146 Mireia Prat (ESP)  74 72, Danielle Montgomery (ENG)  71 75, Clare Queen (SCO)  72 74, Yu Yang Zhang (CHN)  70 76, Kyra Van Leeuwen (NLD)  77 69, Stacy Lee Bregman (ZAF)  75 71, Rachel Jennings (ENG)  72 74, Caroline Westrup (SWE)  73 73, Steffi Kirchmayr (DEU)  75 71, Marieke Nivard (NLD)  74 72, Carly Booth (SCO)  72 74, Linda Wessberg (SWE)  73 73, Anja Monke (DEU)  74 72, Zuzana Kamasova (SVK)  72 74, Elena Giraud (FRA)  72 74, Trish Johnson (ENG)  70 76, Tania Elosegui (ESP)  73 73

MISSED THE CUT

147 Kendall Dye (USA)  71 76, Kylie Walker (SCO)  75 72, Jade Schaeffer (FRA)  76 71, Kym Larratt (ENG)  74 73, Holly Aitchison (ENG)  74 73, Klara Spilkova (CZE)  75 72, Henrietta Zuel (ENG)  77 70, Lucie Andre (FRA)  73 74, Sophie Sandolo (ITA)  73 74, Frances Bondad (AUS)  74 73, Becky Brewerton (WAL)  77 70, Carmen Alonso (ESP)  74 73, Alison Whitaker (AUS)  71 76

148 Karolina Vlckova (CZE)  73 75, Julie Maisongrosse (FRA)  72 76, Louise Larsson (SWE)  73 75, Denisa Sobotkova (CZE)  75 73, Julie Greciet (FRA)  75 73, Monique Smit (ZAF)  72 76

149 Titiya Plucksataporn (THA)  76 73, Stefanie Michl (AUT)  73 76, Dawn Shockley (USA)  77 72, Virginie Lagoutte-Clement (FRA)  73 76, Caroline Martens (NOR)  75 74

150  Malene Jorgensen (DNK)  74 76, Elizabeth Bennett (ENG)  72 78, Maria Ohlsson (SWE)  76 74, Louise Stahle (SWE)  74 76, Jessica Yadloczky (USA)  76 74

151 Sharmila Nicollet (IND)  74 77, Sofia Harkonen (FIN)  77 74, Laurette Maritz (ZAF)  77 74

152 Sophie Walker (ENG)  75 77, Chrisje De Vries (NLD)  74 78, Mary Mattson (USA)  78 74, Anastasia Kostina (RUS)  76 76

153 Ana Larraneta (ESP)  77 76, Charlotte Ellis (ENG)  72 81

154 Mianne Bagger (DNK)  76 78

155 Sara Djos (SWE)  76 79, Barbara Genuini (FRA)  79 76, Cassandra Kirkland (FRA)  77 78

156 Lucy Williams (ENG)  78 78, Daniela Prorokova (CZE)  78 78, Maria Beautell (ESP)  76 80, Alexandra Vilatte (FRA)  75 81

157 Caroline Rominger (CHE)  77 80

158 Marie Lunackova (CZE)  83 75

159 Nicole Gergely (AUT)  79 80, Katerina Krasova (CZE)  81 78

160 Barbora Barcalova (CZE)  80 80

161 Sara Ardstrom (SWE)  85 76, Vera Shimanskaya (RUS)  84 77

162 Adriana Zwanck (ESP)  83 79, Kristyna Pavlickova (CZE)  80 82

166 Iliska Verwey (ZAF)  82 84