NSW’s Sarah Kemp has maintained her position in the top 10 at the halfway mark of the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters.

Kemp signed for an even par round of 72 to go with her 70 to be at two-under-par total and tied for ninth position heading into the final two rounds.

The field is chasing Rolex World No. 3 Stacy Lewis, who fired a superb second round of seven-under 65 to break free of a crowded leader board going into the penultimate round of the Omega Dubai Ladies Masters.

The 24-year-old from Texas mixed her eight birdies, four in each half, with a lone bogey on the par-3, 15th to reach nine-under, one ahead of Sweden’s Pernilla Lindberg and two clear of Spain’s Carlota Ciganda with Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum occupying solo fourth on six-under after a second round 70.

Lewis said: “The putts went in today. I made a little adjustment on the practice green and it seemed to work. I made a couple of long ones that I probably shouldn’t have made and it turned out to be a good day.

“On the longer putts the grip handle was stopping instead of keeping going so I changed that. I think I had 10 or 12 fewer putts and that made the difference. I think I had 24 putts today instead of 33.

“It played a lot shorter from the tee and most of the greens I could reach in two. The greens were firmer but I had shorter clubs.

“I’m going to have to keep going and take care of business but I prefer being where I am now to where I was last night.”

Due to bad light, round two play was suspended at approximately 5.45pm and two groups, containing six players, will return to complete their second rounds at 8am on Friday.

The third round will begin at 10.40am and will be played from two tees in a U-draw format. The draw for round three will be published once round two has been completed.

Is was a relatively good day for the Australians in the field. Nikki Campbell (73) is at three-over and tied for 34th. Nikki Garrett fired a 70 to move up the leaderboard into a share of 46th position a further shot adrift.

Alison Whitaker is one of the players still to complete her second round, she is currently in a tie for 52nd position at five-over-par with two to play.

The projected cut is six-over. Unfortunately for Whitney Hillier (+10) and Bree Arthur (+13) their season’s are done.