(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Anne van Dam of The Netherlands provided the marker at the halfway stage by going top of the leaderboard after the second round of the Omega Dubai Ladies Classic.
The 22-year-old from Arnhem, carded an error-free round at the Majlis Course of the Emirates Golf Club on Thursday to return with a seven-under 65 on the day and 10-under 134 for the tournament.
Anne, who is ninth on the Order of Merit, had scored a three-under on the first day and Thursday's round saw her jump up six places and into the lead. Anne had seven birdies in her second round.
And that meant Anne, who won the Xiamen International Open last year, holds a two-shot cushion over Scotland's Kelsey MacDonald, who had threatened to overtake her at one point.
Teeing off in the company of Americans Angel Yin and Brittany Lincicome, from the 10th, Anne began with a birdie on the par-3 11th before adding another birdie on the par-5 18th.
She then blazed away with five birdies on her front nine. After a par on the first, Anne reeled off three birdies on the trot, from the second to the fourth and then went on to rack up twin birdies on the seventh and eighth.
Meanwhile, MacDonald, who had begun the day on four-under, had come within striking distance later in the day after a flurry of birdies on her front nine. But two bogeys on either side saw her fall short of Anne.
MacDonald had six birdies and two bogeys in her round. Teeing off from the 10th along with England's Sophie Walker and Mexico's Ana Menendez, MacDonald didn't have the greatest of starts as she bogeyed the par-3 11th.
She played for par over the next three holes before getting her confidence back to unleash mayhem over the final four holes of her front nine.
MacDonald birdied the third on her back nine and was seven-under through 13 holes but she encountered a bogey on the next. She then wrapped things up with a birdie on the par-4 sixth.
Meanwhile, Danish duo Nanna Koerstz Madsen and Nicole Broch Larsen had shot an identical six-under through 11 holes to challenge Anne but the pair couldn't keep up.
Thailand's Thidapa Suwannapura, who finished tied for third here last year, vaulted 26 places from 29th on tied third.
Suwannapura shot a six-under for the day for an overall seven-under and she shared the third spot along with Order of Merit winner England's Georgia Hall and Australian Celina Yuan. Suwannapura had a bogey-free round with six birdies.
Suwannapura countrywoman and overnight leader Supamas Sangchan dropped to tied sixth after a one-under on the day. She was on six-under, four shots off the leader Anne.
Meanwhile, India's Aditi Ashok, tied 29th overnight, shot a four-under for the day to be five-under. The error-free round put the 19-year-old tied for 10th along with Finland's Minea Blomqvist and English duo Hannah Burke and Florentyna Parker.
England's Charley Hull was tied 14th after carding a two-under to be four-under.
Former winner In-Kyung Kim was tied 34th at two-under, while Chinese youngster Muni He was tied 25th.
The cut was applied at one-over and Camille Chevalier, who is leading the Rookie of the Year, was in danger of missing it. But the Frenchwoman just about made it. And so did the contender to her title, Spaniard Luna Sobron.
Sweden's Jenny Haglund though missed out.
Meanwhile, Morocco's Maha Haddioui missed the cut and so did American Beth Allen, winner of the Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies Open last year.
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