GUYANCOURT: Switzerland's Morgane Metraux remained ahead in Friday's penultimate round of the Olympic women's golf tournament with a two-shot lead after her sparkling performance the previous day, with Lydia Ko of New Zealand leading the chasing pack.
Metraux made a more subdued start compared with Thursday, when she set an Olympic nine-hole record of 28, but showed composure to improve slightly on her overnight score and reach nine-under by the turn with two birdies and a bogey.
The 27-year-old Swiss is an Olympic debutant after choosing not to go to Tokyo while chasing a spot on the prestigious LPGA tour. Her sister Kim represented Switzerland three years ago alongside Albane Valenzuela, who is in Paris for a third Games.
Twice medallist Ko, for whom gold in Paris would complete her Olympic set, hit three birdies and one bogey in a fluent front nine to reach seven under.
Colombia's Mariajo Uribe kept alive the dream of ending her career in Paris with a medal by moving up to third place at six under. She overtook China's Yin Ruoning, who was second overnight but dropped shots to stand at five under by the turn.
Also in the hunt for medals was American Rose Zhang, who struck three birdies in a bogey-free front nine to move to five under in fifth place.
U.S. teammate Nelly Korda, the defending champion and world number one, recovered from two bogeys in the first three holes to string together three birdies, including an eye-catching 82-yard chip from the rough into the seventh hole.
Korda, who suffered a quadruple bogey in a tough back nine on Thursday, was three under after 12 holes.
Frenchwoman Celine Boutier, who delighted the home crowd by cruising into a first-round lead on Wednesday, steadied her game after coming unstuck like Korda in the latter stages of the second round.
After 10 straight pars, Boutier landed her first birdie of the day at the 11th hole to go four-under.
Teammate Perrine Delacour hit another over-par round to remain near the bottom of the leaderboard, but said the enthusiasm of fans eased the pain of an unforgiving course.
"It's always nice to feel the support from France and all of the people are here no matter what my score," she said.
The women's tournament follows the same format as the men's won by American Scottie Scheffler on Sunday, with 60 players competing in a 72-hole, stroke-play contest over four days. - Reuters