England's Mimi Rhodes holds a one-shot lead at the halfway stage of the Ladies European Tour's PIF Saudi Ladies International, with Solheim Cup stars Carlota Ciganda and Charley Hull also in contention.
Last year's LET Rookie of the Year mixed four birdies with a lone bogey during a three-under 69 at Riyadh Golf Club, moving Rhodes to 11 under and a shot clear of South Africa's Casandra Alexander and Japan's Chizzy Iwai.
Starting on the back nine, Rhodes - who held a share of the overnight advantage - followed birdies at the 10th and 13th by carding her first bogey of the week at the 16th, then posted back-to-back gains from the first to move top of the leaderboard.
"I wasn't putting too much pressure on myself this week, but it's obviously a big event," Rhodes said. "I wanted to do well and start with a cut made and I've done more than that. I think I can be proud of myself for now and see what happens.
"I won't approach the weekend any differently. I'll get back into the zone, I will take it one shot at a time make birdies out there with minimum bogeys and see what happens."
Alexander posted a second successive 67 to share second with Chizzy Iwai, who carded a three-under 69, while Ciganda - who made a hole-in-one during the opening round - moved within two of the lead after a second-round 68.
"On the back nine, things started to go my way a little," Alexander said. "I still left a few out there, I left a lot in the teeth just short of the hole. I did well, but there were still some shots out there so hopefully we can grab them tomorrow."
Korean quartet Ina Yoon, Hyejun Park, Jiwon Ko, Hye-Jin Choi all sit three back, along with Japanese duo Nasa Hataoka and Akie Iwai, Belgium's Manon De Roey and Singapore's Shannon Tan.
A congested leaderboard sees 17 players separated by four shots at the halfway stage, with Hull and fellow Englishwoman Esme Hamilton both in the group on seven under after second-round 67s.
Hull, chasing her first LET win since 2024, charged up the leaderboard with five birdies in a seven-hole stretch from the second before cancelling out her lone bogey at the 10th by taking advantage of the par-five 12th.
, missed the cut after back-to-back rounds of 76.
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