Thunderstorms force postponement

The second round of the Open de Espana Femenino has been postponed until tomorrow because of persistent thunderstorms at Flamingos Golf in Benahavis on the Costa del Sol today.

Organisers had originally pushed the tee times back by half an hour following overnight thunderstorms, before suspending play again at 0930 for three hours and 25 minutes.

Play was eventually abandoned for the day at 1410 and any scores posted today will not count.

The tournament will be reduced from 72 to 54 holes, finishing on Sunday.

“Because the weather was so unstable and with more storms coming, we decided to cancel the round,” said the tournament director Andy Lott from the Ladies European Tour.

“It wouldn’t have been possible to resume play until 4pm and we would not have been able to complete three rounds by Saturday evening.”

Rookie Maria Hernandez from Spain held the first-round lead after firing a seven-under-par 64 in the blazing heat yesterday. England’s Laura Davies, Swede Carin Koch and Irish-born American Alison Walshe all opened with rounds of six-under-par 65.

Tomorrow’s second round will begin as originally scheduled for today, starting at 0845.