Anna Foster’s quest for a breakthrough win on the Ladies European Tour (LET) has taken a big step forward in the Swiss Women’s Open at Holzhausern. The Dubliner shot a second round bogey-free 66 for a midway total of nine-under-par 133, leaving her in a share of second place.
Foster, in her second full season on the LET and a graduate of Auburn University where she had a strong collegiate career, has yet to register a top-10 on the circuit this season. She showed her class here, though, with some great approach play and solid putting to join Whitney Hillier as the leading pursuers of 36-hole leader Kajsa Arwefjall of Sweden.
The Elm Park-attached Foster signed for birdies on the second, seventh, 12th, 16th and 18th. Her season’s best finish to date was tied-12th in last month’s Belgian Open and she is currently 61st on the order of merit.
“I would much rather be in a position of chasing rather than having all these great players chasing me,” said Foster (24). “I’ll just go out there with an attitude that I have nothing to lose. I’ll keep doing what I’m doing and take one shot at a time."
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She added: “I’ll definitely be nervous, I feel like it would be weird if you weren’t [nervous] in that situation. But my game has been trending in the right way for a while now, so to be in a position to contend in the final group, I’ll try to enjoy it as best I can.”
Sara Byrne improved her opening round by five strokes with a 69 for 143 but missed the cut by one shot, while Annabel Wilson’s 73 for 145 was three shots too many.
Meanwhile, Shane Lowry faces an uphill task if he is to progress in the PGA Tour’s Fed Ex Cup playoffs. The Offaly native posted a second-round 72 for a midway one-over-par in the St Jude Championship in Memphis. That saw him lose more than 20 places on the leaderboard to hover around 50th place.
Lowry was one-under on his round through 13 holes but suffered a disappointing finish, with a double-bogey five on the 14th – where his tee shot found a water hazard – followed by a run of bogey-birdie-bogey-par.
Having entered the 69-man tournament in 62nd on the FedEx Cup rankings, Lowry requires a top-10 finish to have a chance of moving on to next week’s BMW Championship in St Louis. That tournament is limited to the leading 50 in the season’s standings.
Sungjae Im – who started the week placed 52nd on the FedEx Cup standings – shot a second successive 66 for a midway total of eight-under-par 132 to claim the clubhouse lead. The South Korean covered the front nine in 30 strokes but that hot streak cooled on the way home and he followed five straight pars with a run of bogey-birdie-bogey-par to finish.
“I know where I am in the standings, but I don’t want to think about it too much,” said Im of his mindset heading into the weekend in the hot conditions at TPC Southwind. “It’s more important to focus on each shot and do my best. If I keep doing that, hopefully the result will take care of itself."
In the Irish Challenge at Killeen Castle on the HotelPlanner Tour, South African Louis Albertse shot a superb 63 for a midway total of 12-under-par 132 to lead by two strokes over his compatriot Bryce Easton. Kilkenny’s Mark Power and Waterford’s Gary Hurley – in tied-28th on 140 – were the leading Irish players. Ronan Mullarney, Max Kennedy, Dermot McElroy and Liam Nolan all survived the cut on the mark of 143.
