(George, South Africa February 10 2005) The Saltire – the Scottish flag – was the only thing visible from ground level when standing in between the giant sand dunes of The Links course at Fancourt and not too many yards away from it all afternoon were Janice Moodie and Catriona Matthew who are now in contention to win the first World Cup for their nation.
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| Scotland’s Janice Moodie |
With one round of stroke-play to go when both scores count towards the final result, Moodie and Matthew, who are undefeated as a pairing in both the Curtis Cup and Solheim Cup, took full advantage of the almost perfect conditions here.
Starting the day at two under par after the first round four balls, Matthew, from North Berwick and Moodie from Glasgow, began steadily with three straight pars before reeling off five birdies in the next six holes to turn in 31, five under par.
Despite a couple of blips on the homeward nine, the Scots, who played together in the Curtis Cup in 1994 in Chattanooga in Tennessee and in The Solheim Cup at Barsebäck in 2003, consolidated their first half effort to put them into contention for the $200,000 first prize.
“I think knowing each other well maybe helps a little, but I think we both just played better today,” said Matthew, who has spent the last few weeks in Florida preparing for the new season.
“We are both good players and if you play well then you are probably going to have a good score. The bottom line is if you hit good shots you are going to do well.
“I think tomorrow you have to go out there and try to hit fairways and greens. You try to avoid a big number and hopefully roll in a few putts.”
Moodie, who credited her new Scotty Cameron 303 putter with holing many of the putts today, added:
“We have to go out there and play your own game tomorrow. There are two of us out there, so you just say ok what do I need to do to get the ball in the hole?”
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