By Matt Smith
Whitney Hillier joined the hole-in-one party at the eighth hole of the Evian Resort Club to take the lead in the Jabra Ladies Open.

The Australian became the fourth player in two days to ace the hole, and is now in the driving seat to follow up her Aramco Team Series — Bangkok success with another victory, this time in France.

Hillier, who led her side to the team title in Bangkok last week, used her 8-iron to hole out from 140 yards on a warm and windy afternoon in Evian-Les-Bains.

Earlier, Amy Boulden, Felicity Johnson and Aditi Ashok all holed hrom the tee on the eighth in the same tournament.

Hillier held on to post a level-par round of 71 for a 36-hole total of four-under-par and takes a one-stroke lead into the final round of the tournament, where the winner will earn a place in The Amundi Evian Championship.

The recent South African Women’s Open champion Lee-Anne Pace and the first-round leader Carmen Alonso share second position.

A stroke further back in a tie for fourth, Maggie Simmermacher had the round of the day – a five-under-par 66 – to sit alongside Tiia Koivisto and Johanna Gustavsson.

But Hillier was all smiles on the second day.

She said: “I’ve just been laughing all day long with George, my caddie.

“This was my fifth hole-in-one, so it was pretty special. I saw that two players had already made hole in ones this morning so it was in my head and then it just happened.

“I’ve had two holes-in-one this year already, one in Melbourne: crazy.

Hillier won the Team element of the Aramco Team Series — Bangkok at the weekend, but is yet to taste an individual victory on the LET.

While former Order of Merit winner Pace has 11 LET titles on her resume, Alonso is also gunning for her first win on Tour.

She said: “The beginning was OK, it wasn’t windy and the sun was out, but the last ten holes were hard with the wind, and on this course it’s really tough.”

You might also like:
Carmen sings on Ladies European Tour
Top names sign up for Aramco Team Series – London 
Watch: One of the best pars in history
Manon claims first LET title at Aramco Team Series – Bangkok
Rory McIlroy swing analysis
Is Tiger’s style holding him back?