Since the situation came to the Committee’s attention on Saturday morning, the penalty was enforced retrospectively under Decision 34-3/1 of the Rules of Golf and Nocera’s first round score was corrected from 68 to 70.
Suh, 28, from Seoul, went bogey-free in her second round. She birdied the fifth, a reachable par five, and then eagled the par-five 18th, hitting a hybrid to 20 feet from 205 yards.
“I had more birdie chances but I didn’t make them. Finally on 18 I made eagle so I’m happy about that,” Suh said.
She added that she would approach the final round “hole by hole,” with her father Sang Hong as her caddie and hopes to improve on her career best finish of third at the 2007 China Ladies Open in Xiamen.
The 25-year-old Alonso carded five birdies and a bogey to move into contention for her maiden professional title, having been a runner-up last year in Italy.
“I played really good. I hit the ball so well with the driver and hit fairways so my drives were long,” said Alonso, who has consistently led the LET’s driving distance statistics since she joined the tour at the end of 2004.
“With my short game I was really good today so I’m happy about that. The only bogey was the result of missing a stupid one metre putt, but anyway, I kept working.”
Like Alonso, Bondad carded five birdies but dropped three shots. The 21-year-old second year professional, who is yet to win on tour, said that her fine putting saved her from a scrappy long game.
“The first nine I was playing very badly. I know if doesn’t reflect in my score but I was hitting shots that I wasn’t supposed to be hitting at my level. I was skanking shots and hitting them thin. One almost shanked,” said Bondad, whose best finish on tour was sixth at the Open de Espana Femenino in July. “Once again my putting saved me in the end but the back nine my swing was a lot better and I was hitting better shots.”
She added that she felt experienced enough to win. “I was tied for the lead in Austria after 48 holes or something and I got a bit nervous. I think I know what to do now so hopefully I’ll just have fun and keep trusting my swing. I am a lot more confident now with my putting so I think whoever holes the most putts for birdie tomorrow will win,” she said.
Thailand’s 19-year-old rising star Pornanong Phatlum, the overnight leader, struggled to a 74 but remained in the hunt just four shots off the pace. She shared fifth position with Paraguay’s Julieta Granada (72), Indian Smriti Mehra (69), Ireland’s Rebecca Coakley (68), Yun Yan Bai of China (68) and England’s Lora Fairclough (72).
Li Ying Ye of China, who was beaten by Annika Sorenstam in a playoff at the inaugural tournament last year, finished in a share of 11th at one under along with Denmark’s Iben Tinning and Australian Karen Lunn. All three players shot rounds of 71.
