Valdis Jonsdottir started Friday with a flurry of messages from Iceland and finished the day in a position to win her first Ladies European Tournament at Queanbeyan this weekend.
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The big-hitting Jonsdottir is two strokes ahead of Sweden's Lynn Carlsson and three clear of Germany's Karolin Lampert and defending champion Meghan Maclaren after shooting a one-under par round to make the cut at the women's NSW Open.
It's the first time Jonsdottir has made a cut anywhere in the world for more than six months after battling form issues and a back complaint, which is probably why she was inundated with messages after a superb first round.
Jonsdottir had an eight-under par first round on Thursday to set up her tournament and managed to stay under par again in the second round to put herself in contention.
She said a conversation with her mental coach and a decision to withdraw from a tournament in Jordan has helped narrow her focus to chasing the NSW title.
"It was a bit of battle [on Friday], honestly. I didn't hit very nicely off the tee, I think I only hit three fairways," Jonsdottir said.
"My irons weren't as aggressive ... I'm happy with one-under based on how I hit the ball. I try not to think [about a good opening round] but it was kind of hard because Iceland is 11 hours after Australia.
"I kept getting messages yesterday and then today when I was waking up so it was kind of reminding me of what I did [on Thursday]. I just tried to block it out.
"I know some of my family stayed up. My sister was up breastfeeding, she woke up at 5am and looked at the scores, then didn't want to go back to sleep."
Jonsdottir had to scramble for parts of her round, bogeying the first, sixth, 11th, 12th and 14th. But she showed glimpses of her hot form as well, finishing with four birdies and an eagle on the par five seventh hole.
The 29-year-old has been in Australia for the past six weeks but has failed to make the cut at any tournament since arriving.
It prompted her to withdraw from an event in Jordan, but she will play in Cape Town before returning to Reykjavik to rest her body.
Golf is the No. 2 sport in Iceland, but the season is just five months long and Jonsdottir regularly finds herself starting to play a round at midnight to avoid crowds. The sun sets for just three hours per day in summer.
"It's fun and different. It's nice to be able to go out at 9pm or 10pm for a quick 18 holes if I want to," Jonsdottir said.
"In the winter we struggle in the daylight. But in the summer time it's fun to have at least 20 hours per day to play golf.
"... I've got to keep the ball in play a bit better off the tee [this weekend], not miss [the fairway] right and left, which is what I did on Friday. Be positive, be patient. Birdies will come, but you'll miss some shots also."
The Queanbeyan course was covered in purple on Friday for International Women's Day, with Rebecca Artis emerging as the leading Australian at five-under par. But her four birdies on Friday were almost cancelled out by three bogeys.
"I didn't play quite as well [on Friday], I hit 17 greens [on Thursday] so that's pretty solid ball striking and tough to back up," Artis said.
"I got off to a pretty slow start and bogeyed two of the first five holes, but just stayed really patient because I knew if I could hit a couple of decent shots and give myself chances, I was feeling confident with the putter."
