Vedel and Kuosa take second-round lead in Slovakia

Line Vedel of Denmark - leading an LET event for the first time Line Vedel of Denmark and Finland’s Jenni Kuosa carded a pair of 69s to share the second-round lead at the Allianz Ladies Slovak Open. The duo finished with a two-round total of 140, four under par, one shot ahead of three others. England’s Trish Johnson shares third place with Australian Rachel Bailey and Jessica Yadloczky of the United States. One shot behind in a tie for sixth are Caroline Masson, who had a tournament low-round of 67, Scotland’s Carly Booth, Italian Veronica Zorzi and Lucie André, the first-round co-leader from France. In her round of 69, Vedel, 23, from the town of Aabenraa, mixed four birdies with one dropped shot at the par-four sixth. Vedel, a second-season Ladies European Tour professional, who posted a career best finish of ninth in the Lalla Meryem Cup in March, is getting used to being in contention and said: “I fell back a couple of times but I’m getting used to the pressure.” She battled through the pain barrier at the start of her round and explained: “I’m pretty thrilled that I got to play because when I was on the range I had a really bad pain in my right shoulder so I was pretty worried that I wouldn’t be able to play.” Co-leader Jenni Kuosa of Finland Meanwhile, Kuosa’s 69 included five birdies and two bogeys. The 34-year-old from Vantaa, whose career best finish in the last eight years on tour was a tie for ninth at the Finnish Masters, commented: “I didn’t finish the best way. I three-putted my 17th, which is the eighth hole, which left a little bit of a bad taste in the mouth. “I started off well and then I kept doing pars. On my back nine I had two greens which were three-putts and left some birdies out there still. I think the greens are really tricky. Yesterday I had difficulty reading the greens properly. I think it’s mainly if you miss a green, you have some interesting shots.” Like Vedel and Kuosa, Bailey and Yadloczky played early in the best of the day’s conditions, in warm and slightly over cast weather with little wind. After heavy rain and thunder storms pelted the course overnight, Bailey said: “It played a lot longer than it did yesterday, so it was a little bit of a different golf course.” After hip surgery last year, she feels like a rookie on tour this year and added: “I don’t really have any expectations other than going through my pre-shot routine, going through my practise and seeing where I end up at the end of the tournament.   “You can’t get too far ahead of yourself because there are 18 more holes to play and a lot of girls in the hunt. Keep it steady and one shot at a time.” Yadloczky was six under for the tournament after 14 holes in her second round, but dropped three shots in her last four holes at the sixth, eighth and ninth. “I’m full of regret right now!” she sighed. “Back nine, I just got a little nervous I guess and didn’t let myself swing the golf club and was a little more tentative than I was on the front nine but overall I think it was a good day. I putted really well.” The 24-year-old rookie from Casselberry, north-east of Orlando, Florida, made an eagle at the 36th hole in Rotterdam last week to make her first cut on tour. At the other end of the experience spectrum, Johnson a 21-time tournament champion, played in the more demanding afternoon conditions under dark skies which luckily only delivered light rain to the Gray Bear Golf Course, located in a valley within the Tale ski, golf and hotel resort. She caught the leaders with five birdies on the back nine, but dropped a shot over the front nine with two bogeys against a birdie. Johnson reflected: “I hit some good shots early on and converted. I had three or four chances from six feet and made them, which made the difference. I probably relaxed a bit more, hit a couple of great shots into 18, so I was five under after nine and then hit a few ropey shots on the back nine. I just seem to be doing that at the moment. I seem to be playing really well and then maybe towards the end, just some poor shots. I need to work on that, but a nice score and nice to be back in it.” Slovakian number one Zuzana Kamasova added a round of 73 to her opening 75 to end four over and two shots within the cut mark, which fell at six over par. Kamasova said: “I played okay today. I hit two bad shots and had two doubles on the front nine, so that was my pressure point and from then on I started to hit good shots into the green and created many opportunities. I didn’t convert all of them but I’m quite happy with the round, one over. It could have been under par but I’ll take it one step at a time.”