For Emma Talley, Galgorm Castle in Galgorm, Northern Ireland, is a long way from her hometown of Paducah, Kentucky. But Talley is taking to venue quite well, having worked her way to the top of the leaderboard halfway through the ISPS Handa World Invitational, a unique event co-sanctioned by the LPGA, Ladies European Tour and European Tour.
“I love playing over here in general,” Talley said. “I think it’s really calming. The people are really – it’s a very simple way of living. The golf courses are awesome. Yeah, it can get windy and cold and rainy. We got some wind and rain today, but I love playing golf over here, always have. Hopefully it treats me well the next couple weeks.”
Talley opened with 67 at Galgorm Castle and when she backed it up with 65 on Friday, she took a three-shot lead over Chella Choi and fellow American Jennifer Kupcho, who are both at 10 under.
Englishwoman Charley Hull and Scottishwoman Gemma Dryburgh are close behind, in a tie for fourth at 9 under.
On the men’s side, the leader also hails from far away. New Zealander Daniel Hillier is 11 under through two rounds, which puts him one shot ahead of England’s Jordan Smith. Hillier pulled away in the second round with an 8-under 62.
Hillier is just 23 years old and coming off a successful amateur career during which he won the New Zealand Amateur twice and represented his country at the Eisenhower Trophy. He was stroke-play co-medalist with American Cole Hammer at the 2018 U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach.
An impressive eight under 62 for Daniel Hillier
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“It was really good out there,” he told the European Tour. “Made the most of some pretty benign conditions in the morning and got off to a good start. Managed to sink a couple more near the end.
“I’ve hit it really well. Made one bad swing on hole 11 and made bogey there but apart from that it was really solid.
Smith posted that number on Thursday only to follow it up with 68 on Friday. His countrymen Garrick Porteous and David Horsey are tied for third two shots behind him at 8 under. A fourth Englishman, the colorful Eddie Pepperell, is tied for fifth at 7 under along with last week’s Cazoo Open winner Nacho Elvira.