Leader quotes from round two at the LEO

First of all steady start wasn’t it, no birdies until a while into your round this morning?
Yeah, it wasn’t until the seventh I hit a good pitch in there, but you know birdies were pretty rare today, the conditions were much tougher, the wind obviously picked up and it was playing really really tough out there.

I understand you holed a pretty long put on the ninth is it?
On the tenth a holed a pretty good put, I just tried to two put it really and luckily it caught the left edge of the hole and then made a great eagle on the eleventh again, which put me in a good position.

I think your second shot was to about 8 foot, wasn’t it?
Yeah, it was. I only had a three quarter wedge in, I only had about 108 or something to the hole, so I hit a good drive down there and managed to convert it, which was nice.
It was playing really really tough out there today.

I suppose the question is whether it’s going to get tougher this afternoon, cause at -6 you’re in pretty good shape aren’t you?
Yeah, pretty good shape. I would have liked to have shot a couple lower, but I really can’t say how tough it was out there, I actually enjoyed the challenge, I tought it was great fun to play in that type of wind and you really had to sort of shape your shots in and I enjoyed it to be honest.

You had a putt for birdie on the eighteenth I think?
Yeah, that was quick. I knew that if I didn’t quite get the line I could three wack that quite easily. So I just managed to tap it down, so it rolled a couple of feet by.

Television Interview:
Hi, I’m Melissa Reid and I’m from Derby. This is the story of my round today

So far so good, up and till nine?
Yeah on 9 I hit a really bad drive and got a little bit unlucky, got it into thick stuff and I could only knock it out about 10 foot into a bunker, hit it over the back and then actually made a really good up and down for a five.

So level par half way round for the day, so what happened at 10?
I hit a pretty good three quarter 9 iron into there, it was pretty difficult to get it to that front pin and I had about a 30 foot return, where I thought just get it upto the hole and make a good two put and actually managed to catch the left edge which was nice.

What was the highlight of your round?
Definitely the eleventh again, I eagled it yesterday and I really wanted to eagle it again today, absolutely bombed my drive down there, had probably a 108 yards I think to the pin and hit a three quarter wedge to about 8 foot.

So far so good, but one more disappointment to come?
Yeah, 13th it was playing really tough actually the wind was pretty hard of the left and I just wanted to hit a little 5 iron in there with a draw and I just over drew it and it went over the back. I actually hit a pretty good chip, but it rolled on to about 15 to 20 foot and I managed to hole it.

There was one disappointment to come?
Yeah, 13th was playing really tough today and you really didn’t want to miss it right and water on the left with the wind hard off the left as well which is a nice combination, but I just wanted to hit a little five iron in there with a little bit of a low one with a draw and I just over drew it over the back and I actually hit quite a good chip, but there was no way that it was, there was just nothing to stop it and it rolled 20 foot passed the hole.
Yeah it was actually really a tough putt, I know it was only about 6 foot, but it was down hill, down wind and it was a pretty easy 3 putt actually, so me and Brian just said just hit that way and I just tapped it and it managed to roll two or three feet past, but managed to hole that for a safe par.

Iben Tinning 4 putted from there today?
I’m not surprised actually, I mean the greens are tough, so if you get on the wrong side of them and the wrong side of the wind, it plays pretty tough in the wind.

Did you find it challenging?
Yeah, you know I’m always out there challenging myself and when things are tough like this, there is no greater challenge, you know you still have to win tournaments in conditions like this. You have to shape shots, you have to hit it low, high, fades, draws and that’s what I’ve been working on the winter months and earlier this season so I really enjoyed to put things together.

You probably hoping the wind will get stronger this afternoon.
Yeah, that will be nice, I’m looking forward to tomorrow so I think I’m going to go and get some rest and hopefully I can play like this tomorrow.

Tough day today wasn’t it?
Oh yeah, it was really windy. It was difficult.

How did it affect your strategy, did you have to change anything?
The toughest was to select the clubs today, into the greens really, because it was like gusty winds, so sometimes it was two clubs or three clubs, that was the difficult part.

Did you have a good caddy?
I have a trolley.

So you did a good job yourself then?
Yeah, very good.

You obviously two shots off the lead going into the final round at the moment, how would you set your position?
I’m really happy obviously the way I’m playing and I’m gonna try my best tomorrow and see if I can control my nerves. Who knows what can happen.

Do you get really nervous?
Yeah, I am a nervous person, but if I control it it’s perfect because I’m quite lazy normally, so I have to activate my body, so it’s good for me the nerves.
Are you looking forward to potentially, or would you like to play in the final group on the final day?
I would love it, I’m always looking for that, I like the pressure. I won’t have a problem with that.

Have you been in that situation many times before?
A few times, yes in the past.

When was the last time?
The last time was in Austria when I was in the leading group and I won there, so I have good memories .

Who is teaching you?
My family, my uncle, my father, my brother yeah and my sister as well.
All the family, we are all together so the technical is the same.

What would you say has been the strongest part of your game this week?
Definitely the putting. Yesterday and today, I putted very good.

How many puts did you have?
25 yesterday and 31 today, I hit the ball better today, but the putting was good.

Where do you base yourself now?
St. Sebastian in the North.

Quite windy in St. Sebastian?
More rain I think more rain.

Are you pleased that the rain stayed away today?
I love the rain, I really love it. I won’t mind if it’s raining tomorrow, I love it. I always practice in the rain.