05 June 2021: Olivia Cowan and Annabel Dimmock took centre stage as the duo set up a final round duel with a share of the lead. Cowan shot 69 in the second round at the Evian Resort Golf Club. Tvesa Malik was in imperious form as she rustled the low score of the day. The Indian, coming off good results in the SA Women’s Open and the Ladies Italian Open continued to thrive on the Ladies European Tour. Tvesa shot an impressive 67 for a tie in tenth with Johanna Gustavsson, both women even through two rounds.
Tvesa climbed up the order with most of her work coming on the front nine. She shot four birdies over that stretch, marching through in 31 strokes as she worked her way to the low round of the day.
Cowan and Dimmock went to bed on five-under par, setting up a juicy contest for honours on Saturday. The German put herself in the conversation with birdies on her last two holes. Incidentally, Cowan has finished with exactly the same results as Tvesa in the SA Women’s Open and the Ladies Italian Open, T23 and T10 respectively.
“I feel great, I bogeyed my 16th hole and three-putted which wasn’t great. In my final two holes I wanted to push a bit and I did that,” Cowan said.
“I’ve been playing really good since coming back on Tour. My game feels like it is trending in the right direction, we’ll see what comes tomorrow but I’m feeling good about it.
“It would be amazing to get my maiden LET victory, I’ve been waiting a while and come close a few times. It would be great, but we’ll see what happens.”
Dimmock shot one-under 70 in the second round, containing two birdies. The Englishwoman won the tournament in 2019, carrying her own bag on that occasion. This week, she has her dad to shoulder the burden and get in her ear when she needs it.
“I actually hit it a lot better out there today than I did yesterday. I went on the range after I played and worked on a few things,” said Dimmock. “I just could not buy a putt and I had an annoying three-putt on 16, but apart from that I’ve got no complaints. Hopefully, the putts go in tomorrow!
“My first time defending it would be amazing if I could win tomorrow, but I’m not really focusing on that. I’m just trying to do what I’ve done the last few days, to stay relaxed and not get ahead of myself because it’s worked so far.”
“Dad has been keeping me calm. We’ve just been having a chat and it’s quite nice because he doesn’t really help me out. He’ll maybe pace to a yardage for me but it’s tough out here walking and I’m appreciative he’s been able to carry the bag.”
Emerging Thai star, Atthaya Thitikul continued her impressive run. She shot four birdies in a 69 to reach within a stroke off the leaders.
Pia Babnik at three-under and Kylie Henry at 2-under in giving the pursuit as the top five women are separated by just three strokes.
At one-under are four women. England’s Felicity Johnson, Finland’s Sanna Nuutinen, Morocco’s Maha Haddioui and South African amateur Caitlyn Macnab are tied in sixth.
The cut fell at nine-over leaving 73 women in action on the final day.
