By Kent Gray
It won’t be lost on co-leaders Maria Fassi and Jessica Karlsson that the player closest to them leaderboard is the owner of 10 Ladies European Tour titles, and another on the LPGA Tour.

Lee-Anne Pace is delighted to be so close after a topsy-turvy second round at the Dubai Moonlight Classic presented by EGA.

The 40-year-old South African watched a six-foot birdie putt slide by on the 18th and with it a chance to make it a three-way lead at -10 on Thursday. But Pace’s eventual 71 could have been worse, especially after a run-in with a cart path on the 16th which sent a chip scuttling deeper into the undergrowth.

“It was entertaining, up and down, and pretty much all over the show,” Pace said of her second round where she mixed five birdies with four bogeys.

“I started a bit cold with the putter but then it got hot in the middle, then I hit it in the bush and nearly hit my head, so it was a bit all over the place, but one-under at the end of the day means I still have a chance. 

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“My caddie really helped me out there because I wanted to play it into the bunker which could easily have been a seven, and he pointed in the other direction and we made an up and down [bogey six], so that was a great call.”

Pace secured her 10th LET title at the SA Open in May and is happy to be plying her trade in “Europe” after an LPGA Tour focus in recent years.

“I’m happy, I’m happy in my life and I’m happy in my golf so I’m really enjoying it, it’s great to be back in Europe and really nice to be around my friends. 

“I’m going to play the same game [on Friday] and try to get into the lead, and if not, try to chase the lead.”

Fassi and Karlsson can’t say they haven’t been warned.

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