'I’m buzzing'

Charley Hull is “buzzing” as she heads into the weekend at the AIG Women’s Open with a shot at major glory.

A second-round 68 from Hull delighted the crowds at Walton Heath and lifted the home favourite into a share of second place at five-under with Andrea Lee and Minami Katsu.

Runaway leader Ally Ewing will take a five-stroke advantage into round three, having surged clear of the field in sensational fashion during the first half of Friday, but Hull is satisfied with her position.

“I’m happy how I hit it off the tee and I holed some long putts. I’m buzzing for the next few rounds,” said the 27-year-old.

“I thought that was a great score by Ally this morning. It’s good now. Just chase her down.”

Hull was the runner-up in this year’s US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach, where she finished with a 66, and came up just one shot short of Lydia Ko at the 2016 ANA Inspiration.

“I've finished second a couple times in a major now, so hopefully I can feed off that and know what to do,” she said.

“I'm five shots behind the lead in second place at the minute, so yeah, I've got to make birdies out there and I enjoy trying to make birdies so hopefully I can make a load.”

Hull started her second round at Walton Heath with six successive pars and faced arguably the trickiest conditions of the day as rain and wind blew in.

Yet a birdie at the seventh kickstarted her round and she converted long putts to pick up further shots at the 11th and 15th before a two-putt four on the par-5 16th moved her into second place.

“It was quite tricky out there today,” she added. “It was a bit windy, a bit rainy, we had a bit of all the four seasons out there.

“It was quite hard to hit it close to the pins because it was windy and I'm hitting a bit of a draw at the minute.

“But I'm pretty happy. And it was good to finish with a few birdies coming in.

“I feel comfortable on this golf course, I would say. It’s a great track – it’s so pretty out there as well. And it’s just nice, especially, to stay at home.”

Hull understandably attracted a significant following as she made her move up the leaderboard and expects to receive similar support on Saturday and Sunday.

“There are good crowds,” she said. “There will be some big ones over the weekend.”