Matthew shines at Sunningdale

Matthew performed a miracle on the 15th hole

Scotland's Catriona Matthew stormed to the top of the leaderboard with a stunning 65 in the second round of the Weetabix British Open on Friday.

Matthew blasted ahead of the opposition on the 15th thanks to an incredible hole-in-one with the ball rattling against the pin to fall in amidst huge cheers.

On the final hole, she almost repeated her magic as her iron approach shot fell within inches of the pin.

In front of a delighted gallery, she still grabbed a birdie to lead the chasing pack on nine-under-par.

"I played really well and the hole in one was a real bonus," said Matthew, who hopes to become the first British winner since Penny Grice-Whittaker in 1991.

It's only halfway. I'm not nearly thinking that far ahead

  Trish Johnson

"The key today was that I didn't miss the fairways and I birdied all the par fives."

Janice Moodie, Trish Johnson and South Korea's Mi Hyun Kim are in second place and are all in the clubhouse on seven-under.

Before she could begin her second set of holes, Moodie had to play the remaining two on her first round.

She birdied the 17th to edge ahead of Laura Davies and Johanna Head, who had both led the tournament at the end of Thursday.

Kim shot a brilliant 65, Moodie claimed a 70 and Johnson grabbed a 67.

Johnson, who has struggled recently with injuries, was happy with her round, particularly an eagle on the second, and was focused on the job in hand to steal victory.

Joy for Petterson

"To win the British Open the first year it is a major would be the ultimate," said the 35-year-old.

"But it's only halfway. I'm not nearly thinking that far ahead."

England's Johanna Head sits comfortably in third place after shooting a steady 70, following her 68 on Thursday, while America's Rosie Jones claimed a 69 to seize fourth position.

Davies had begun with a couple of birdies and reached the turn in a two-under-par score of 34, but fell away on the back nine to finish with a disappointing 73.

She dropped down the leaderboard and finished the day on three-under.

The best round of the day came from Norway's Suzann Petterson. She shot seven birdies and one eagle in her 64 to move from six-over at the start of play to two-under.

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Weetabix British Open leading scores after two rounds (GB and Ire unless stated):

135 C Matthew 70 65
137 J Moodie 67 70, M H Kim (Kor) 72 65, T Johnson 70 67
138 J Head 68 70
139 R Jones (USA) 70 69
140 W Doolan (Aus) 72 68, I Tinning (Den) 71 69, J McGill (US) 70 70, H Alfredsson (Swe) 71 69, D Delasin (US) 71 69, E Esterl (Ger) 71 69
141 K Robbins (US) 69 72, B Morgan 73 68, S R Pak (Kor) 71 70, L Davies 68 73, Grace Park (Kor) 70 71, R Hudson 71 70, K Webb (Aus) 74 67, E Klein (US) 71 70, K Kuehne (US) 71 70, T Hanson (US) 72 69, L Fairclough 71 70
142 H Kobayashi (Jpn) 72 70, K Fujii (Jpn) 71 71, S Pettersen (Nor) 78 64, M McKay 70 72, M Monnet (Fra) 70 72, P Meunier Lebouc (Fra) 72 70
143 V Goetze-Ackerman (USA) 75 68, Danielle Ammaccapane (US) 75 68, H Bowie 75 72, K Parker (USA) 72 71, R Carriedo (Spa) 73 70, B Burton (USA) 72 71, B Iverson (US) 71 72, B Iverson (US) 71 72, Dina Ammaccapane (US) 72 71
144 A Sorenstam (Swe) 70 74, C Harada (Jpn) 74 70, L Diaz (USA) 74 70, C Duffy 73 71, M Hedblom (Swe) 70 74, S Gustafson (Swe) 74 70, L Neumann (Swe) 73 71, P Sinn (Kor) 74 70, R Hakkarainen (Fin) 73 71, S Cavalleri (Ita) 71 73, M Arruti (Spa) 71 73