Golf: Caddie shows Davies the way

LAURA DAVIES had a third victory of the season in her sights when she staged a remarkable finish to a second round of 68 to take the lead in the BMW European Masters here yesterday, writes John Bolton from Bercuit, Belgium.

Davies gathered five birdies in her last six holes and her halfway total of 137, nine under par, gives her a two-stroke lead over Marie-Laure de Lorenzi and Liselotte Neumann.

In her opening round of 69 Davies, a winner in Thailand and America this year, had been frustrated on the greens as she accumulated 34 putts. There was little improvement yesterday until she called on the help of her caddie, Mark Fulcher. 'I had just three-putted the 11th and 13th, so I asked Mark to line up my putts and it worked like a charm,' Davies said.

At the next Davies holed a putt of 20 feet for a birdie. She then rolled in a putt of 30 feet for a birdie at the 15th and also birdied the next three holes.

BMW EUROPEAN MASTERS (Bercuit, Bel) Leading second-round scores (GB or Ire unless stated): 137 L Davies 69 68. 139 M-L de Lorenzi (Fra) 70 69; L Neumann (Swe) 71 68. 140 A Nicholas 70 70. 141 P Wright 67 74. 142 H Dobson 71 71. 143 G Stewart 72 71. 144 J Soulsby 73 71; D Reid 71 73; S Prosser 74 70; K Parker (US) 72 72; S Waugh (Aus) 72 72. 145 M Hageman (Neth) 76 69; V Palli (Fra) 72 73. 146 Li Wen-Lin (Tai) 73 73; C Hjalmarsson (Swe) 73 73; A Sorenstam (Swe) 75 71; T Johnson 70 76; L Maritz-Atkins (SA) 71 75; R Lautens (Swit) 72 74.