South African Lee-Anne Pace somehow achieved just that with a second successive 66 at Saadiyat Beach to hold onto her overnight lead at the halfway stage of the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open.

The 36-year-old is -12 through 36-holes of the Ladies European Tour event, a shot clear of reigning LET Rookie-of-the-Year Aditi Ashok after the Indian teen matched Pace’s 66.

Lee-Ann Pace

Luna Sobron soared 73 places up the leaderboard with a 62 that eclipsed the old course record by two shots and shares third at -9 with Swede Camilla Lennarth (65) and Cheyenne Woods who holed out with a seven iron from 161 yards on the 6th en-route to a 66. It wasn’t the only pure shot the American hit in the second round either:

Who said long bunker shots were tough?! @Cheyenne_Woods giving a masterclass @FBMLadiesOpen pic.twitter.com/DNtaouXHZ3

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) November 2, 2017

Related: Luna Sobron rockets into contention at FBMLO with course record 62

“It feels great,” Pace said of remaining atop the leaderboard.

“I remembered the course better today but I struck the ball really nicely too. I hit the shots I wanted to hit and I hit it really close to the pin and made the putts.

“Tomorrow I’d like to start the way I did today, and be a bit patient, as patience helps you to do a lot. I had some chances which I didn’t take but in the end I’m pretty satisfied.”

Luna Sobron en-route to her course record 62.

Ashok is ominously poised.

“I feel I’m hitting the ball well enough, though I missed a couple of drives left. But apart from that I struck the ball pretty well. My putting has been pretty good too, so I’m happy,” said the 19-year-old from Bengaluru.

“I’m still bogey free and everyone is mentioning it. I’m just focusing on hitting the fairways and letting the birdies happen.”

Georgia Hall shot an impressive 67 to finish at -8 in joint fifth place with fellow Englishwoman Florentyna Parker, Celine Herbin (France) and Swede Linda Wessberg.

.@georgiahall96 so close to a hole-in-one on the par-3 6th hole @FBMLadiesOpen pic.twitter.com/M9Uw23ds6k

— Ladies European Tour (@LETgolf) November 2, 2017

It was a tough day for Marianne Skarpnord as Norway’s rising star dropped to -2  while fan favourite Carly Booth shot another 72 to finish even and miss the cut – made at -1 – by one shot.

Defending champ Beth Allen also has an unwanted weekend off after adding a disappointing 76 to her opening 73 to finisb +5.  Her tweet afterwards summed up the America’s feelings:

What a world class event here at @SaadiyatBeachGC for @FBMLadiesOpen. Gutted to have put up such a terrible defense. #nextyear

— Beth Allen (@BethAllenGolf) November 2, 2017

Full scores here

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