Getting hot under the collar when necessary and keeping her cool the rest of the time, world No.1 Lydia Ko is in prime position to claim a first Women’s Australian Open crown.
The New Zealander benefited from sage advice from master coach David Leadbetter and local knowledge from her Australian caddy Jason Hamilton on Friday to fashion a second successive three-under 70.
It left her tied for the halfway lead with South Korean Ha Na Jang and Thai teenager Ariya Jutanugarn at six-under 140.
English teen Charley Hull was in outright fourth at four under, one shot ahead of Korean Amy Yang and American Jessica Korda, who won the Open the previous time it was staged at Royal Melbourne in 2012.
Katherine Kirk (73) was the leading Australian in a tie for 10th at one under, but countrywoman and defending champion Karrie Webb (78) needed a par at the final hole to just make the halfway cut at five over.
The highlight of Ko’s round came at the par-four 15th, when she holed out with a nine-iron from 125 metres.
She had been fuming as she stood on the tee, having only parred the preceding par-five – a hole she had eagled in the opening round.
“That anger led me to hit an aggressive drive on the 15th,” said Ko.
“I was so upset from the hole before that I gambled.
“I said to myself `I’m hitting driver’ and it was a good choice.
“… A little bit of anger is good because it lets the steam out, whereas sometimes I’ve had experiences where I’ve kept it in and it’s definitely not helped me, because I’m still mumbling `you’re an idiot’.”
Ko said she had benefited from playing at Royal Melbourne in her amateur days.
“We definitely don’t get any of these kind of courses over in the States,” said the 17-year-old.
“Every course is special in a way but, especially out here, it makes you think a little bit more and try and be smart.”
Jang carded an impressive four-under 69 in ideal early conditions on Friday.
The 22-year-old has made an impressive start to her rookie year on the US LPGA Tour, finishing tied for second last month at the Coates Golf Championship.
Jutanugarn – who also picked up her LPGA Tour card at Q-School late last year after recovering from shoulder surgery – joined Ko and Jang in the lead late in the day.
First-round leader Ilhee Lee from South Korea had a day to forget, shooting a second round of nine-over 82 to drop all the way back to four over.
Among the notable players to miss the halfway cut were last week’s Ladies Masters winner Su Oh (+11), fellow Australian Stacey Keating (+9) and two-time Australian Open champion and former world No.1 Yani Tseng from Taiwan.
