The Australian and New Zealand players are performing well overall in Stage II of the LPGA Qualifying School in Venice, Florida.

Leading the way at five-under-par total is New South Wales Emma de Groot. The Coffs Harbour player has carded rounds of 70 and 69 on the Bobcat and Panther courses at the Plantation Golf and Country Club and is currently tied for seventh with New Zealand’s Cathryn Bristow. Bristow has posted rounds 71 and 68.

Another New South Wales’ player, Rebecca Artis, is a further two shots back and shares 10th place after rounds of 70 and 71. Victorian Stacey Keating (71, 71) is tied for 13th at two-under-par, while West Australian Kristie Smith (72, 71) is at one-under-par and shares 20th position.

New South Wales’ Corie Hou fell back down the leaderboard after a second round of 75, but she is still in with a good chance of progressing as she is currently three-over and tied for 76th position. The top 80 and ties at the end of the four rounds will advance to the LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament, which is set for December 4-8.

The remaining Australian in the 190 player field is Queensland amateur Ellen Davies-Graham (74), she improved by three shots in her second round to be at seven-over-par total and tied for 137th. Two good final rounds could see her jump into the top 80. New Zealand’s Sarah Bradley has lots of work to do; she is currently tied for 168th at 10-over.

Americans Amy Anderson and Jenny Suh sit atop of the leaderboard at eight-under-par and hold a one shot lead over Sweden’s Dani Holmqvist, American Taylor Collins and China’s Xiyu Lin.

Thursday’s third round of Stage II LPGA Qualifying Tournament will begin at 8:00 a.m. with groups teeing off on the first and tenth tees of both the Bobcat and Panther courses at Plantation Golf and Country Club. Pairings will be determined by score with the lowest scores teeing off on the Panther course while the higher scores will play on the Bobcat course.