Swedish golfer Rikard Karlberg (3-under for the day) and Aussies Ben Eccles (3-under) and Justin Warren (3-under) are the lucky few who have been unchallenged by the torrid conditions, as the afternoon field prepares to take to the course.

Round 2 wrap:

Two Europeans are about to be hunted by a bunch of Australians at 13th Beach, and the wind is about to blow hard starting tomorrow. The ISPS Handa Vic Open is set for a fascinating weekend.

Swede ball-striking wizard Madelene Sagstrom’s ownership of the first two days of the women’s is no surprise; it is only a couple of weeks since she won an LPGA Tour event in Florida. She has shot 65-67 and leads by a shot from American Ally McDonald.

But Frenchman Robin Sciot-Siegrist’s 14-under through two rounds could not be forecast. Sciot-Siegrist came here, he admitted, because he was not getting starts in other European Tour events, having secured his card for the first time late last year.

The left-hander had never been to Australia let alone experienced the links-style conditions of 13th Beach. But he has been superb. Ranked 396th in the world, he has spent the past few years playing on the Challenge Tour, where he won one tournament. “Yeah, obviously it’s true, you don’t really know me. Of course, it’s great to be in this position.

The Australians are in packs around them. Sydney’s Travis Smyth, who has been improving on the Asian Tour, has his best-ever winning chance, sitting outright second at 12-under and will play in the final group with Sciot-Siegrest on Saturday.

The 2014 winner, Victorian Matthew Griffin, is at 11-under along with Queenslanders Jake McLeon and Jed Morgan, the 20-year-old Australian Amateur champion, and Perth’s wunderkind Min Woo Lee, all right in the mix. Geoff Ogilvy, the 2006 US Open champion, is a further shot back and looming.

For all of them, the lure of a European Tour exemption of two years is right there. Said Smyth: “I’ve paid my affiliate membership hoping to do some damage on weeks like this and just see where we’re at.”

Griffin’s case is interesting; he has been making a good living on the Japanese tour, so he would need to think carefully if he did win, giving him a two-year exemption. “I hope I have to make that decision in the next couple weeks,’’ he said.

In the women’s event, young Gold Coast pro Robyn Choi, who had an underwhelming first year on the main tour in 2019, is best-placed at 10-under, tied-third. But the big winner was Australia’s top-ranked player Minjee Lee, who caught fire partway through her second round, playing the Creek course, and ultimately shot a 67 that leaves her at nine-under, well in range of a third Vic Open title.

As for the bouncy, charismatic Sagstrom, 27, she plans to keep the momentum running. “I’m obviously doing good things, it’s giving me the right results. I’m just going to stay patient, do the same thing and be that boring, happy Madelene,’’ she said.

The scoring has been sensational over the first two days and two players, Perth’s Jarryd Felton and Chinese player Jing Yan made holes-in-one. The cut was an astonishing five-under par for the men, and three-under for the women.
Both defending champions – Scot David Law and Frenchwoman Celine Boutier missed the first cut.

So did Karrie Webb, and Haotong Li, the Chinese player who was the highest-ranked player in the men’s field.

There will be another cut tomorrow, with just 35 players in the men’s and women’s events going through to the final round. Winds up to 45 km/h are expected. It is about to get very interesting.

Canizares was by far the star of the day, the 37-year-old Spaniard making 10 birdies including at his last three holes to shoot a brilliant, nine-under par 63 on the Creek course to hold a two-shot buffer at the top.

His round was made all the more special by the fact he played in the fluky breeze of the afternoon. Almost all the low scores in both the men’s and women’s events came from the morning, when it was benign and open to attack on what turned out to be a low-scoring day.

Canizares is ranked 781st in the world, which goes to show his recent form has not been great on the European Tour. He has only limited status which is why he jumped on a plane last week and made his way here for a single event at a venue he’d never seen.

“I didn’t have expectations because it’s a long way from home, and you don’t know how you’re going to feel,’’ he said. “I’m working on the right things, I think, and I’m a good putter. Sometimes I see the hole really big and that’s what happened today.’’

He had just 27 putts, and explained that a rib injury, and the need to spend more time at home after the birth of his first child, a daughter Sienna, had influenced the lull in his golf.  “I’m still motivated. I still want to play. I’ve been on tour 13 or 14 years but I still want to do it. I’ve still got half my career ahead of me I think,’’ he said.

A winner of two European Tour events, he is the son of a Spanish golf legend Jose Maria Canizares, who played four Ryder Cups, and his father’s influence remains strong. “I grew up watching him, motivated to do the same things, and here I am. I’m really thankful for that.”

Canizares’ late burst put space in a men’s field that was packed before that, with four men – the 2014 winner Matthew Griffin, New South Welshman Travis Smyth and Justin Warren and Queenslander Jake McLeod – all starting with seven-under par 65s.

Griffin, who plays most of his golf in Japan, did not make a single bogey. “It’s just a level of comfort; you’ve been there, you’ve done it, you’ve gone all the way to Sunday and you come back and go, ‘why not do it again?’.  It’s always nice to come back to a place you’ve done well at before,” said Griffin.

A bunch of bright, young Australians are in the pack at six-under, including the reigning Australian Amateur champion Jed Morgan from Queensland, the 21-year-old Min Woo Lee from Perth, and Victorian Zach Murray, who eagled the last on the Creek course for his 66.

The 2006 US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy was another to play well in the afternoon, making eagle at the 18th for a 67, while one of the favorites, Lucas Herbert, started with a 71.

On the women’s side, Kang carded four consecutive birdies on the back nine of the Creek course on her way to 65 which tied Sagstrom, who won an LPGA Tour event just a couple of weeks ago. For Kang, 29, there is a familiarity here from spending some of her high school years in Australia, winning a national junior title.

“Every time I come here I feel like it’s my second home, so I feel very comfortable being out here and I like to hear all these accents and I feel like I’m home,” she said.

Sagstrom had a hot and cold round but ultimately closed with three consecutive birdies, also on the easier Creek course, and said later her win in Florida had helped her mindset. “I think after my first win there definitely added confidence to everything, just knowing that I can compete out here, knowing that I can win on tour,’’ she said. “I think that is definitely helping me out.  It’s also created kind of a little bit of a calmness; just okay, it’s going to be fine, it will all work out, it’s the beginning of the season.”

Of the high profile players, Australia’s Minjee Lee began with a three-under par 69 on the Beach course along with Hannah Green, while former world No. 1 Inbee Park struggled to a two-under par that included a hole-out eagle on the par-four 10th hole. The 56-year-old Dame Laura Davies, playing her first tournament in six months, pulled off an almost incomprehensible 67 on the Creek course to put herself in contention.

The 288 players alternate courses tomorrow before those who make the cut play on the Beach course for the weekend, with just 60 men and 60 women having the luxury of playing on Sunday.