For once Belen Mozo let her clubs do the talking. The Spaniard with a penchant for posting bikini photos of herself on social media has upstaged hometown hero Lydia Ko in Auckland.

The Spaniard plundered the Windross Farm layout with eight birdies and a spectacular ace for an eight-under 64 on day two of the MCKAYSON New Zealand Women’s Open.

At 14-under, she holds a five-stroke lead over Emily Tubert, Brooke Henderson and Madelene Sagstrom in the first LPGA event on New Zealand soil.

Ko sits eight strokes back at six-under in a tie for 12th. The tournament host carded a bogey-free 68 with one birdie on the outward nine and three coming home. But she was far from despondent about reigning in the deficit “especially around this golf course. If it’s calm somebody could shoot 10 under”.

And Mozo could have achieved that if not for a double-bogey 5 on the 17th when she pulled her tee shot into a water hazard for her only blemish of the round. She rebounded with a four-metre birdie putt at the last, finishing in the gloom at 7.08pm (local time).

The highlight was an ace at the 145-metre 13th where she hit a solid 7-iron with a little draw that bounced five metres before the hole.

Mozo, who celebrated her 29th birthday in Auckland on Monday, promised so much as a teenager. She won the British Girls Amateur Championship and then the Women’s British Amateur Championship.

But since turning pro and qualifying for the LPGA Tour at her first attempt in 2010, Mozo has been a relative underachiever with just four career top-10s on the LPGA Tour.

Now ranked 206th in the world, her greatest LPGA moment came in a team format in 2014 when she was a member of the victorious Spanish team at the inaugural International Crown.

With poor weather forecast over the weekend, she wasn’t getting ahead of herself: “When you score like this, everything seems so easy.”

Earlier in the day, Tubert set the clubhouse lead with a flawless seven-under 65 that took her to nine-under. It’s been a frustrating few years for the talented 25-year-old from California who conceded she had been “aimlessly wandering”.

The LPGA rookie is in unchartered territory at Windross Farm, having earned just $US23,654 this year with her best result being a T-41 at last month’s Portland Classic. She was in tears just five weeks ago after missing the cut at the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open.

New coach Kevin Craggs has simplified her swing, which Tubert likened to a game of Jenga where the aim is to remove a little wooden block from a tower without the structure falling apart.

“It’s been a rough year for me and I dislocated my shoulder also. I guess it’s all part of the learning process,” Tubert said.

“I went into college very trusting and innocent and was broken with my experience and how I was treated – and I didn’t have my guard up. It has taken a long time to recover, which has been frustrating.

“But meeting my new swing coach and working with him has been amazing. All of a sudden there’s hope, a lot of excitement and purpose for what I am doing.”

 

Day Two Scores – MCKAYSON New Zealand Open

Scores after round 2 of the MCKAYSON New Zealand Women’s Open being played at Windross Farm Golf Course (a-denotes amateur):

130: Belen Mozo (ESP) 66 64

135: Emily Tubert (USA) 70 65, Brooke M. Henderson (CAN) 65 70, Madelene Sagstrom (SWE) 68 67

136: Amy Boulden (WAL) 66 70, Jing Yan (CHN) 70 66, Mariajo Uribe (COL) 68 68, Thidapa Suwannapura (THA) 70 66

137: Na Yeon Choi (KOR) 67 70, Pernilla Lindberg (SWE) 69 68, Beatriz Recari (ESP) 67 70

138: Bronte Law (ENG) 72 66, Jodi Ewart Shadoff (ENG) 65 73, Lydia Ko (NZL) 70 68, Nontaya Srisawang (THA) 69 69, Pavarisa Yoktuan (THA) 69 69, Selin Hyun (am, KOR) 73 65

139: Rachel Rohanna (USA) 71 68, Hee Young Park (KOR) 69 70, Peiyun Chien (TPE) 72 67, Yani Tseng (TPE) 69 70, Sarah Jane Smith (AUS) 73 66, Sun Young Yoo (KOR) 69 70, Jackie Stoelting (USA) 71 68, Lee Lopez (USA) 72 67, Holly Clyburn (ENG) 72 67, Brittany Lincicome (USA) 67 72, Su Oh (AUS) 69 70

140: Eun Jeong Seong (am, KOR) 72 68, Cheyenne Woods (USA) 73 67, Ally McDonald (USA) 71 69, Brooke Pancake (USA) 69 71, Therese O’Hara (DEN) 70 70, Paula Reto (RSA) 70 70

141: Danielle Kang (USA) 71 70, Ayako Uehara (JPN) 74 67, Jennifer Song (USA) 72 69, Amelia Garvey (am, NZL) 70 71, Prima Thammaraks (THA) 72 69, Annie Park (USA) 72 69, A-Yean Cho (am, KOR) 70 71, Celine Herbin (FRA) 73 68, Nicole Broch Larsen (DEN) 72 69, Madeleine L Sheils (USA) 69 72, Christina Kim (USA) 71 70, Sarah Kemp (AUS) 72 69

142: Laura Eum (KOR) 71 71, Lindy Duncan (USA) 73 69, Brianna Do (USA) 70 72, Pannarat Thanapolboonyaras (THA) 70 72, Dana Finkelstein (USA) 71 71, Gaby Lopez (MEX) 70 72, Min Seo Kwak (KOR) 70 72

143: Amy Olson (USA) 74 69, Megan Khang (USA) 72 71, Catriona Matthew (SCO) 73 70, Becky Morgan (WAL) 71 72, Stacey Peters (AUS) 73 70, Kris Tamulis (USA) 73 70, Laura Gonzalez Escallon (BEL) 70 73, Ryann O’Toole (USA) 72 71, Giulia Molinaro (ITA) 74 69

144: Mina Harigae (USA) 71 73, Min Lee (TPE) 74 70, Aditi Ashok (IND) 74 70, Perrine Delacour (FRA) 68 76, Hanee Song (NZL) 72 72, Gemma Clews (ENG) 72 72

145: Whitney Hillier (AUS) 74 71, Karen Chung (USA) 74 71, Cathryn Bristow (NZL) 76 69, Jane Park (USA) 74 71, Katherine Kirk (AUS) 71 74, Mel Reid (ENG) 71 74, Hyeon Ju Heo (KOR) 74 71, Sandra Changkija (USA) 71 74, Alena Sharp (CAN) 72 73, Youngin Chun (am, KOR) 72 73

DID NOT MAKE THE CUT

146: Maude-Aimee Leblanc (CAN) 70 76, Beth Allen (USA) 76 70, Vicky Hurst (USA) 73 73, Kristen Farmer (AUS) 78 68, Mariah Stackhouse (USA) 74 72, Wichanee Meechai (THA) 73 73, Simin Feng (CHN) 75 71, Marissa M Steen (USA) 78 68, Haeji Kang (KOR) 74 72, Mohan Du (am, CHN) 71 75, Alejandra Llaneza (MEX) 74 72

147: Brittney Dryland (am, NZL) 76 71, Wei-Ling Hsu (TPE) 78 69, Angela Stanford (USA) 76 71, Demi Runas (USA) 78 69, Dottie Ardina (PHI) 73 74, Chantelle Cassidy (am, NZL) 74 73, Tiffany Joh (USA) 71 76, Amelia Lewis (USA) 71 76, Sadena A Parks (USA) 75 72

148: Kelly Tan (MAS) 75 73, Dani Holmqvist (SWE) 75 73, Caroline Hedwall (SWE) 74 74, Breanna Gill (AUS) 78 70, Ilhee Lee (KOR) 72 76, Wenyung Keh (am, NZL) 73 75

149: Paige Stubbs (AUS) 78 71, Juliana Hung (am, NZL) 74 75, Katherine Perry (USA) 72 77, Julianne Alvarez (am, NZL) 78 71, Emily K. Pedersen (DEN) 76 73

150: Lauren Hibbert (AUS) 78 72, Brooke M. Baker (USA) 80 70, Xiyu Lin (CHN) 77 73, Olafia Kristinsdottir (ISL) 78 72, Jessica Cowie (AUS) 78 72, Lorie Kane (CAN) 74 76, Alexandra Orchard (AUS) 75 75

151: Maria Parra (ESP) 74 77, Tania Tare (NZL) 78 73, Hannah Park (am, AUS) 74 77

152: Dori Carter (USA) 82 70, Jennifer Ha (CAN) 78 74, Tamara Johns (AUS) 77 75, Katie Burnett (USA) 73 79

153: Ellen Davies-Graham (AUS) 81 72, Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong (THA) 76 77

154: Rose Zheng (am, NZL) 71 83

155: Sheridan Gorton (AUS) 76 79, Munchin Keh (NZL) 77 78

159: Yifan Ji (am, CHN) 81 78

160: Jenna Hunter (NZL) 83 77

161: Lynnette Brooky (NZL) 80 81

166: Phillis Meti (COK) 88 78