Olympic golf: Charley Hull two off halfway lead

After two rounds of the women’s Olympic golf competition Great Britain’s Charley Hull is on eight-under-par, two behind leader Inbee Park of South Korea.

Charley Hull has fired rounds of 68 and 66 over the Olympic course in Rio to post a 36-hole total of 134, leaving her in a great position as she attempts to replicate the gold medal winning performance of her fellow Brit Justin Rose. Hull goes into day three of the women's Olympic golf competition two shots behind South Korean Inbee Park and one shy of America’s Stacy Lewis.

Although looking strong at the halfway stage, the young Englishwoman is trying not to get ahead of herself. “I’m just trying to approach this week the same as any other,” she said. “I’m not going to really look at what I do, I just kind of get to the course and think 'ok, I’ve played decent, another round tomorrow.'”

Inbee Park leads the tournament after two opening rounds of 66. The South Korean has won seven Majors in the past but has just come back after a lengthy lay-off because of a thumb injury.

“I think first coming here, I didn’t really know whether I was going to play this week or not due to the injury,” she said. “Obviously didn’t expect much of a result.  It was more of, you know, whether I can play or not.  So I mean, a good result is a great gift.”

Stacy Lewis posted a superb second round of 63 to finish the day one behind Park, alone in second place. Recently married, Lewis is excited at the prospect of a potential Olympic medal.

“It’s been such a cool week so far, and the highlight for me was just getting to see the guys up there on the podium on 18 on Sunday getting their medals and just thinking about how cool that would be to be in their shoes and be doing that on Saturday. It’s definitely a motivating factor,” she said.

Canada’s Brooke Henderson goes into the third round tied with Charley Hull in third place. Marianne Skarpnord of Norway is a shot further back in a tie for fifth with Nicole Broch Larsen of Denmark and Taiwan’s Candie Kung.

Women’s Olympic Golf – Day 2 leaderboard

1    Inbee Park (Kor)            66    66        -10 2    Stacy Lewis (USA)        70    63        -9 T3    Charley Hull (GB)            68    66        -8 T3    Brooke Henderson (Can)    70    64        -8 T5    Marianne Skarpnord (Nor)    69    66        -7 T5    Nicole Broch Larsen (Den)    67    68        -7 T5    Candie Kung (Tai)            67    68        -7 T8    Aditi Ashok (Ind)            68    68        -6 T8    Minjee Lee (Aus)            69    67        -6 T8    Ariya Jutanugarn (Tha)        65    71        -6 T8    In Gee Chun (Kor)        70    66        -6 T8    Gerina Piller (USA)        69    67        -6