ALICANTE, SPAIN – Beth Daniel and Meg Mallon lifted the USA into a two shot lead at the Comunitat Valenciana European Nations Cup in Spain on Friday.
The pair shot a five-under 67 at La Sella Resort in Denia, Alicante, playing the Valencian Cup format, which is a variation on Greensomes.
The USA and Australia were both invited to the 20-nation event, being played for the second straight year on the Ladies European Tour.
The Americans were at 11-under 133 after 36 holes, having fired 66 in Thursday’s opening day fourballs.
Gwladys Nocera and Anne-Lise Caudal from France were in second place after a round of 68. The Netherlands was a shot back, with first round leader Australia five shots off the pace in fourth on six-under-par.
“We’re as surprised as anybody but we’re also playing well at the right times. We’ll see what happens the next few days,” said Mallon, a 22-year veteran of the LPGA Tour, who has not played competitively since July due to injury. Daniel, The 2009 US Solheim Cup captain, quit the LPGA Tour after playing the RICOH Women’s British Open at St Andrews in 2007. She added: “I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself so we just take it one shot and one day at a time. I think we’re better off that way.”
The U.S. team picked up a shot at the first hole when Daniel rolled in a three-footer for birdie but they dropped a shot at the short fourth after a three-putt bogey.
A chip by Daniel to six feet set up a second birdie at the par-five ninth hole and the pair was at seven-under-par after nine holes. Mallon made a seven-foot birdie putt at the 10th hole followed by 20, 10 and five footers at the 12th, 13th and 16th holes respectively. The USA dropped its second shot at the par-three 17th, when Daniel chipped six feet short of the hole and Mallon missed the putt but they recovered with a birdie on the par-five 18th.
The French team, paired with the US side, made three birdies and one bogey before Nocera rolled in a 35-footer for eagle on 18.
“We played really well today and it was good to finish like that because we deserve it, pretty much,” Nocera said. “I don’t say that very often but we played really well and it’s good to finish like that so we are pretty happy.”
The young Dutch team of Christel Boeljon and Marjet Van der Graaff remained in the hunt after a mixed round of six birdies and four bogeys. The Australian team of Nikki Garrett and Joanne Mills, leaders after the first round at seven-under, posted a 73 after three birdies and four dropped shots.
Spaniards Paula Marti and Tania Elosegui found themselves back in the tournament with a five-under-par round of 67, which tied the best score of the day with the United States. They fired seven birdies and two bogeys, climbing 11 places up the leader board into equal seventh at four-under-par.
“We played well and were calmer than on Thursday,” said Marti, the 2002 European number one and a two-time LET tournament champion. “We had a chat last night and said, “Let’s play with more confidence.” We bogeyed two holes but that’s normal in this format. We missed some birdie opportunities but now we have the confidence to get back into the battle.”
Defending champions team England struggled to a second round of 74 but remained just inside the top ten places in a share of ninth with Switzerland. Meanwhile the Austrian team was penalised 28 shots for playing the wrong ball on the greens.
Saturday’s third round will feature fourballs followed by another round of Valencian Cup format on Sunday. The €325,000 Comunitat Valenciana European Nations Cup is sponsored by Valencian Community Investments (VCI) for the second consecutive year.
