SALLY WATSON 70 AS SCOTS IMPROVE IN TURKEY

Sally Watson, with a two-under-par 70, spearheaded an improved performance by Scotland on the second day of the women's world amateur team golf championship for the Espirito Santo Trophy at Gloria Golf Club, Antalya in Turkey. The Scots shaved eight shots off their first-round team aggregate with a tally of 146 but they are still well down the standings - joint 34th in a field of 53 teams -  with a halfway total of 12-over-par 280. South Korea have opened up a five-shot lead with a 36-hole sccore of 280. Germany, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand are disputing second place. England, in a share of 10th place on 288, are the best placed of the GB and I teams. Sally Watson, originally from South Queensferry but now a student at Stanford University, California with the family home now at Elie, Fife. Watson bogeyed the first but, having got her bad hole of out the way, she covered the remaining 17 holes in three under par, thanks to birdies at the seventh, 11th and short 15th. A 70 represented an improvement of seven shots and she is joint 38th on 147 - eight shots off the pace being set by world No 1, 15-year-old Lydia Ko (70-69), a New Zealander of South Korean extraction, and Hyo-Joo Kim (72-67), who lives in South Korea. Scotland's second counting score was a 76 by national champion Laura Murray (Alford), which was four shots better than she achieved in the first round. Laura struggled to the turn in 40 but highlighted an inward 36 with her only birdie of the day at the short 12th. Murray is lying joint 103rd in the individual standings with a 156 tally. Stirling student Eilidh Briggs (Kilmacolm) had a non-counting 78 which included a double bogey 6 at the 10th and a solitary birdie at the 18th. Briggs is joint 98th on 155. LEADING SECOND-ROUND TEAM TOTALS Par 288 (4x72). 280 South Korea 144 136 285 Germany 144 141, Canada 143, 142, Japan 143 142, Australia 144 141, New Zealand 143 142 286 Spain 143 143 287 Finland 148 139, France 144 143 288 England 150 138, Sweden 141 147 SELECTED TOTALS 291 Ireland 145 146 (T16) 295 Wales 149 146 (T22) 300 Scotland 154 146 (T34). LEADING INDIVIDUAL TOTALS Par 144 (2x72) 139 Hy-Joo Kim (SKo) 72 67, Lydia Ko (NZ) 70 69. 140 Celine Boutier (Fra) 71 69, Kotone Hori (Jap) 70 70, Katja Pogacar (Slo) 70 70 141 Min-Sun Kim (SKo) 72 69, Lisa McCloskey (US) 70 71. SELECTED TOTALS 142 Becky Harries (Wal) 69 73, Leona Maguire (Ire) 70 72 (T8) 144 Charley Hull (Eng) 75 69, Emily Taylor (Eng) 75 69 (T19) 147 Sally Watson (Sco) 77 70 (T38)) 148 Georgia Hall (Eng) 76 72 (T46) 149 Stephanie Meadow (Ire) 75 74 (T54) 154 Amy Boulden (Wal) 81 73 (T94) 155 Eilidh Briggs (Sco) 77 78, Chloe Williams (Wal) 80 75 (T98). 156 Laura Murray (Sco) 80 70 (T103). 157 Paula Grant (Ire) 81 76 (T116). NEWS RELEASE South Korea Takes Five-Stroke Lead After Second Round Antalya, Turkey – Defending champion Republic of Korea (South Korea), boosted by a 5-under-par 67 from Hyo-Joo Kim and a 3-under-par 69 from Min-Sun Kim for a team total of 8-under 136, surged into the lead after the second round of the 2012 Women’s World Amateur Team Championship at Gloria Golf Club. The South Koreans, who began the day tied for eighth, posted the third-lowest second-round score in Espirito Santo Trophy history to give them a five-stroke lead over five countries. When Korea won the 2010 WWATC with a record-setting performance, it made its major move in the second round with a record score of 128 to move from a tie for 13th into the lead. Hyo-Joo Kim, 17, who won the 2012 Suntory Ladies Open on the Japan LPGA Tour in June with a final-round 61, tallied an eagle and five birdies against two bogeys for her 67 at Gloria Golf Club’s New Course for the best round of the championship. Min-Sun Kim, 17, had four birdies and one bogey in her round of 69. The team’s 36-hole score is 280. “Yesterday, we were a little tense and we were not 100 percent on our game,” said South Korean coach Young-Min Park. “Today was better. And, I think rounds three and four will be much better.”