Italian Giulia Sergas fired a bogey-free 4-under par 69 to take a three shot lead after the second round at the Handa Women's Australian Open at Commonwealth Golf Club.
Sergas, who finished in a tie for 11th at the 2009 Women's British Open, birdied the par 5 10th hole to open her round at 1-under par and remained steady over the next 8 holes to make the turn at 1-under.
Birdies on the second, fourth and par 3 seventh hole moved Sergas to 7-under par and into the outright lead.
"I was really awake. I was on top of it. You don't need to hit a great shot and just bomb it on the fairway here. You have to place the ball," Sergas said.
The 30-year-old said respect for the course played a big part in her game.
"I try to establish a relationship with the golf course. We try to talk to each other. If you listen well and you don't get caught up in your emotion, then the golf course really talks to you. On a difficult golf course like this one, you will have to pay attention to what it is saying at that moment. I love that. It keeps me in the game much more."
Koreans He-Yong Choi and Soo-Jin Yang are tied for second place at 4-under par.
Choi matched the Italian's round of 69 after an opening round at even par. Yang, who fired a 3-under par 70 in the opening round, finished with a 72 today.
World Number 8 Karrie Webb completed a 3-under par round of 70 to move into a share of fourth place with Rebecca Flood and Austrian Stefanie Michl.
"I gave myself a lot of chances today and hit a lot of good putts. Late in the afternoon the greens get a little bumpy. I threw one away there on 13 which is very disappointing. But it's Friday. If it happened on Sunday you would be kicking yourself," Webb said.
Overnight leader Laura Davies made a solid start to her round before bogeys at the seventh and eighth holes pulled her back into the main group. A bogey on the par 4 12th hole moved her back to 2-under and the defending champion carded a 3-over par 76 to be tied for seventh with Queensland's Katherine Hull and Victorian amateur Alison Whitaker.
World Number 6 Yani Tseng moved into a share of 10th place with Australia's Lindsey Wright and World Number 7 Anna Nordqvist as the Swede bounced back from an opening round 75 to shoot a 3-under par 70.
World Number 1 amateur Alexis Thompson finished her second round in a tie for 14th at even par.
Round 3 begins on Saturday.