Omega Dubai Ladies Masters Thursday: Hall Leads Nordqvist by 1

The 2nd round of the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters has just been completed and Lydia Hall of Wales has taken a 1-shot lead on Anna Nordqvist, last year's LET Rookie of the Year and 2-time winner on the LPGA. With 1st-round leader Florentyna Parker and defending champion In-Kyung Kim sliding down the leaderboard, the door's been opened for a host of rivals. Only 2 shots off the lead is Iben Tinning, who's been talking retirement lately, while Melissa Reid, who's been overshadowed by Laura Davies and Lee-Anne Pace at the top of the LET money list, joins Marianne Skarpnord and Maria Verchenova 3 off the pace. Sub-70 rounds also brought Christina Kim and Gwladys Nocera back into the mix.

Here's how the notables stand after 36 holes:

1st/-7 Lydia Hall (70-67)
2nd/-6 Anna Nordqvist (70-68)
3rd/-5 Iben Tinning (70-69)
T4/-4 Melissa Reid (70-70), Marianne Skarpnord (69-71), Maria Verchenova (68-72)
T7/-3 Christina Kim (73-68), Carling Coffing (70-71)
T10/-2 Gwladys Nocera (73-69), Maria Hernandez (70-72), Bo-Mi Suh (69-73), Florentyna Parker (67-75)

T16/-1 Michelle Wie (71-72), Julieta Granada (69-74)
T20/E Caroline Masson (75-69), Carlota Ciganda [a] (73-71), Emma Cabrera-Bello (71-73), In-Kyung Kim (69-75)
T26/+1 Linda Wessberg (74-71), Lee-Anne Pace (73-72), Louise Stahle (73-72), Sophie Giquel (73-72), Lorie Kane (72-73)
T35/+2 Tania Elosegui (71-75), Anne-Lise Caudal (70-76)
T43/+3 Anja Monke (74-73), Carin Koch (73-74), Alexi Thompson (73-74), Veronica Zorzi (70-77)
T48/+4 Frances Bondad (78-70), Laura Davies (75-73), Kristie Smith (74-74), Jessica Ji (73-75)
T53/+5 Virginie Lagoutte-Clement (74-75), Rebecca Hudson (71-78)

MC: Trish Johnson (76-74), Titiya Plucksataporn (75-77), Jade Schaeffer (72-80), Nikki Garrett (77-76), Carly Booth (76-77), Diana D'Alessio (77-81)

Thompson avoided missing the cut with a charge on the back 9, which speaks well to her determination and grit, but she'll need 36 more holes like her last 12 to fight back into contention. Wie, meanwhile, could only manage 1 birdie and 1 bogey on a front on a day when most of the leaders made charges on the back and Hall birdied 5 of her 1st 8 holes.