Photos: Tristan Jones

By Kent Gray
The headline on the backgrounder press release playfully screamed Alice in Wonderland! As the halfway leader of the $1 million Saudi Ladies International, Alice Hewson is indeed in a happy place at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club although even the Englishwoman concedes the paradise piece is still at least 36, long holes away.

A second-round 64 took the 24-year-old to -9 for the championship, a shot clear of Finland’s Sanna Nuutinen. New Zealand’s two-time major champion Lydia Ko and Swedes Caroline Hedwall and Linnea Strom sit one further back on -7.

Hewson’s second-round shaved three strokes off her career-best LET score and included six birdies as she negotiated Royal Green’s tougher homeward nine in an impressive 30 strokes.

“I really enjoyed my day today. It didn’t really feel like a 64. I just played every shot as it came and I putted really well. I think I only had 22 putts, so that really helps on these greens,” said the Hertfordshire-born pro.

“I didn’t really put too much pressure on myself. I didn’t drive the best. I was in the rough a little bit more than I might’ve liked but I was actually giving myself some good angles to be aggressive into the pins.”

So, how about the weekend now you have a target on your back?

“I go into every single tournament with the ultimate goal to win – that’s why we play golf,” Hewson said.

“The next few days I’ll just go out there and enjoy it, stick to my processes and do exactly what I’ve done these first two days. I can only go out there and control what I can control, and that’s my game and my processes.”

Sanna Nuutinen.

Nuutinen followed her opening 71 with a 65 on Friday.

“Today I just made a lot of putts. Ball striking wise, I made a few changes two months ago and it’s only been getting better and better. I’ve not been hitting it bad, I just haven’t made any putts for a long time, so it was nice to get the putter going again. As long as I’m always putting for birdies it’s fine, just not when I’m having to make a lot of putts for par.

“It’s a four-day event so there’s a lot of golf to play and a lot of things can happen, so I’ll just stick to my process, which is trying to get better every day.”

Ko, who led going into Friday’s second round, has a little more cooperation from her driver.

“My long game was much better today. I made some careless mistakes on the back nine but other than that I played solid,” said Ko.

“I could’ve made some more putts but most days you feel like you could’ve done better. I’ve just got to keep working out there and hopefully the feel with the long game that I thought was good out there will continue into the weekend.

“I’ve been setting myself up with good opportunities for birdies. Continuing that and setting myself up with chances is the best I can do.”

Further back sit Swedish three-time Major winner Anna Nordqvist on -4 and Australia’s Minjee Lee on -3, with Alison Lee (USA) and England’s Dame Laura Davies both tied with a heap of players on -2.

The 2nd Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by Public Investment Fund will be followed by the Nov. 10-12 Aramco Team Series – Jeddah, the last of four new $1million team tournaments added to the LET this season.