American rookie Amanda Blumenherst

American Amanda Blumenherst followed her opening 66 with a three-under 69 to maintain a share of the lead with South Korean Ji-Na Lim after the second round of the ANZ Ladies Masters.

Lim caught the first round leader with an early round of 66 to reach nine-under-par after Friday’s round at RACV Royal Pines Resort on Australia’s Gold Coast.

Australians Tamie Durdin, Karrie Webb and Katherine Hull finished two shots off the pace in a share of third with South Koreans Hee-Kyung Seo and So Yeon Ryu going into the weekend.

Blumenherst, 23, played her afternoon round in steady rain and was pleased with the way she handled herself after leading outright for the first time on Thursday.

“I am very proud of myself. I was nervous of course; I’ve never had a lead in a professional event before. It’s definitely a different experience, a different feeling. But, I handled it really well, played my game and stayed focused,” said the former amateur star from Duke University.

“Coming around the turn is when it really started raining and wind kind of not really predictable either. So it was tough but stayed focused and tried to think of it as, it was part of my advantage, you know, everybody else in my group was having to face it too.”

Blumenherst posted five birdies to two bogeys, one of which was recorded at the eighth hole after her group was put on the clock by rules officials.

“I really don’t like being put on the clock,” she said. “And on the tenth, the rules official wasn’t coming and so we actually took a really long time on ten.

“We went from being right on the tail of the group ahead of us to being two holes behind. So, we definitely had to pick it up, being on the clock is tough, because even though I don’t feel like I’m going overtime, your still consciously thinking that you could be penalised.”

By comparison, Lim, playing in the tournament for the fourth time, had a flawless score card containing six birdies. Her previous best finish on the Gold Coast was 30th in 2008.

Lim explained how she had completed winter training in Australia for the past four years and how she had been working on her short game with a group of girls from the Leadbetter Academy in Korea.

She said, through translation, “Some shots were bad, but I putted well and my short game was good. My short game has improved a lot from last year. That’s what I am confident about.”

Lim won her first event on the Korean Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) in 2007 and then her second in September 2009.

After her win, her sponsor, Jack Nicklaus, sent her a personal letter of congratulations, which takes pride of place on her bedroom wall. She had to have it translated from English to Korean.

“He would like to see me in the US in a short period,” Lim said.

The cut fell at even par with exactly 65 players making it through to the weekend.