Mikaela Parmlid of Sweden

A run of six birdies and one bogey in seven holes over the back nine gave Mikaela Parmlid a two stroke advantage in the early stages of the UNIQA Ladies Golf Open presented by Raiffeisen in Austria on Friday.

Playing in beautiful conditions, under bright blue skies and with little breeze, Parmlid picked up shots at the 11^th and 12^th before dropping a shot at the par-four 13^th. She then recorded four further birdies in a row from the 14^th to the 17^th.

The 31-year-old Swede, from Gothenburg, who had her first daughter just over a year ago, led by two over Germany’s Anja Monke and Czech teenager Klara Spilkóva after the pair both had three birdies in their first six holes, starting from the first and 10^th respectively.

English trio Kym Larratt, Henrietta Zuel and Trish Johnson all started well and were at two under par along with Denmark’s Lisa Holm Sorensen by mid morning.

The stakes are high in Austria as a victory here for a non-exempt player, such as Parmlid, Spilkóva, Larratt, Zuel or Sorensen, would see them automatically qualify for next week’s Ricoh Women’s British Open.