Playing through torrential rain, In-Kyung Kim returned a second round of 68 on Friday evening to take a two-stroke lead in the Ricoh Women’s British Open.

Kim went to the turn in one-under-par, but eagled the long 11th to move one stroke clear of the clubhouse leaders, Georgia Hall and Lexi Thompson. She then birdied the par-4 17th during a particularly heavy downpour to extend her lead at the championship’s halfway stage.

The world number 21 claimed her sixth LPGA title a fortnight ago, a year after winning for the third time on the LET at the ISPS HANDA Ladies European Masters in Germany.

She said: ‘I really didn’t know what I was shooting. I just wanted to play in my own time, because it was really hard, especially on the last three or four holes when it was pouring down. I just had to move forward.’

She added that her eagle on 11 was ‘unexpected’, as her drive ran downhill, leaving her 206 yards to the front and she dribbled a 5-wood up to within 20 feet, before draining the putt.

Ashley Buhai will be the lone South African interest this week after she made the cut by just one shot, following her opening 69 with a 73. After making only one bogey on Thursday, Buhai made three in her next 18 as she slipped down 17 places on the leaderboard.

Lee-Anne Pace missed the cut by three shots after a second round 73, which included finishing bogey, bogey. She will be joined on the early plane home by compatriot Nicole Garcia.

Garcia had too much to do after her opening 75, but did improve by two strokes on Friday. The 26-year-old made 13 straight pars before two drops, and then closing with her solitary birdie for the day.