Emily Pedersen retains one-shot lead at Hero Women's Indian Open

Emily Pedersen fired a battling 73 to retain a one-shot lead after the second round of the Hero Women's Indian Open.

Only two players managed to break 70 in sweltering conditions at the DLF Golf and Country Club in Gurgaon, and Pedersen's one-over round was a creditable effort as she mixed one birdie with two bogeys on day two.

The teenage Dane, playing in her rookie season on the Ladies European Tour, is the only player in the field to be under par for the tournament after 36 holes, although she could have been further ahead had she not missed a number of birdie putts from inside 10 feet.

"It could have been better but I'm happy with my score," said the 19-year-old. "My game was much better than the first day, I just didn't hole the putts. My approach was just the same, and I hit a lot of good shots, 12 fairways and 14 greens."

Pedersen's closest challenger is Welsh veteran Becky Morgan, who carded an excellent 71 which included four birdies and three bogeys as she maintained a strong bid for her first win in her 15 years on Tour.

Ladies European Tour Golf

Another Dane, Malene Jorgensen, is in outright third on one over after a level-par 72, but she was left to rue a bad mistake at the eighth - her 17th - when she put her second shot into the water and ran up a double-bogey seven.

She responded with a birdie at the ninth to get within two of her compatriot, and she said: "I played very good today and my putter was hot so I'm happy with my round. I hit the ball close and my putter was good. That was the secret."

Cheyenne Woods, Tiger's niece, vaulted up the leaderboard into a share of fourth after a commendable 69 which featured four birdies, while England's Liz Young, Finland pair Ursula Wikstrom and Minea Blomqvist and Thailand's Nontaya Srisawang are also on two over.

Woods said: "Today I kept the ball in play. Yesterday I had a few errant drives that got me into trouble. I also was able to hit 17 greens today so I had a lot more chances for birdie and had four in total, which definitely helped. It's tough to make birdies out here because the greens are tough, so I played well and I'm happy."

Giulia Sergas, a member of Europe's winning Solheim Cup team in 2013, was tied for the lead until making a mess of the par-five 18th, where she ran up an ugly triple-bogey eight to slip to three over.

The Italian admitted she was "about to chew someone's head off" after leaving the recording area, and she added: "I went in the water twice at 18. It was just the wrong club, wrong decision with the first shot and second shot. I'm now plus three, so you never know. If it happened to me it could happen to anybody."

Shot of the day went to Thai professional Kanphanitnan Muangkhumsakul as she recorded a hole-in-one at the fifth, and a 73 left her five strokes behind the leader heading into the final round.