Chie Arimura had cut down on the frills, the lace and the stripes but there was still plenty of the fancy stuff as she notched six birdies and an eagle in the course of the 66 which kept her in the lead at the HSBC Women's Champions at Tanah Merah. The Japanese tour player is a cumulative ten under par at the half-way stage and two ahead of Karrie Webb, similarly the owner of a second-round 66.
Meanwhile, Yani Tseng, the winner of each of the last four tournaments, took a bit of a dip with a trouble-strewn 72. Though she was trying to keep things fun, the Taiwanese player struggled a bit in that department as she had a run, from the ninth, of 6,5,4 against the par of 5,4, 3.
"I was especially disappointed with No. 9 she admitted. "That was an easy birdie for everybody and I went and hit it in the water.
"But I've still got two days to go and I will do my best." In other words, she is not about to give up on making it five titles in a row.
The 24-year-old Arimura, who had switched to a plainer outfit after attention had been drawn to her 'exotic' first-day attire, is not just a tidy golfer. She is as brave as they come. When it came to the 18th, where her sister competitors were mostly playing well away from the gaping water hazard, she went straight for the flag. True, she could have done with half a club more but she ended up with an easy two-putt four for her inward 33.
Arimura's bogey, birdie, bogey start reflected the fact that she was once again a little jumpy early on - something which is hardly surprising in that this is her first tournament of the year. However, those mishaps behind her, this winner of eight Japanese titles settled with an eagle at the fifth before pocketing five further birdies.
Expanding on her start, Arimura said her body had not been feeling quite right. "I told myself to calm down , to go a little more slowly and to focus," she said. "That seemed to do the trick."
The wily Webb is a tough player for her to have on her heels. The 36-year-old Australian has 50 titles and five majors under her belt.
Webb's 66 was altogether different from Arimura's. This experienced soul steered clear of the bogeys and made an eagle and four birdies. "I feel great about it," she said afterwards. "I putted really well and there were no bad swings."
Asked if she found competing tougher or less tough than applied at the start of her career, Webb said cheerfully that the ignorance of youth had played no small part in her early success. "I wouldn't have said so at the time but, looking back, I definitely think that was the case."
Today, she feels she has benefited from all her golfing experiences, good and bad. "Everything helps..."
On a day when Michelle Wie and Suzann Pettersen had the cameramen hot in pursuit as the two took to the course in identical outfits and matching plaits, everyone was left feeling for Na Yeon Choi.
Had she signed off with a par, she would have bedded down on the same six-under mark as Sun Young Yoo. As it was, she tangled with the rocks around the last hole and closed with a double-bogey.
