PALMELA, Portugal (January 27, 2017) -- Three days are in the books at the Portuguese International Ladies Amateur being hosted by Montado Golf Resort and for the third consecutive day Letizia Bagnoli of Italy leads the way.

Bagnoli posted an even-par 72 to remain at 4-under and she will carry a two-stroke lead into Saturday's final round. The round started with 12 straight pars before a see saw effect took hold of the round down the stretch.

It all started with a bogey on the 13th and continued with a birdie on No. 15, a bogey on the 16th before the round came to a close with an 18th hole birdie.

Heading into the final round the closest chaser will be world No. 18 Julia Engstrom of Sweden. With an even-par 72 Engstrom held at 2-under and she will begin the round in second place.

France's Agathe Laisne and Denmark's Line Toft Hansen are even-par in a tie for fourth while another five players are tied for sixth at 1-over.

ROUND TWO RECAP

Scores were a bit higher on day two of the Portuguese International Ladies Amateur being hosted by Montado Golf Resort but the leader remained the same. Despite a 1-over 73 that dropped Letizia Bagnoli of Italy to 4-under she was able stay atop a leaderboard that she leads by one.

In the second round Bagnoli got off to a shaky start with a 2-over 38 that included three bogeys and only one birdie. Early on the backside things got slightly worse when the 12th hole resulted in another birdie that dropped her to 2-over for the week. However, on this day Bagnoli would have some fight and she was able to ensure herself the lead alone with birdies on Nos. 14 and 15.

Denmark's Line Toft Hansen is in second place at 3-under, in third place it is a tie between Swedes Julia Engstrom and Frida Kinhult while Zhen Bontan of the Netherlands and Samantha Fuller are 1-under in a tie for fifth.

The best round of day two was turned in by Bontan who put together a 2-under 70. Bontan surged out of the gates with three front nine birdies before holding on during the back nine as she was able to overcome three bogeys thanks to two birdies. The low round of the day comes just one day after the six round in the 60's were recorded.

ROUND ONE RECAP

Italy's Letizia Bagnoli shot a 5-under 67 in the first round to take the lead at the Portuguese International Ladies Amateur being hosted by Montado Golf Resort.

Starting on No. 10 Bagnoli started birdie-bogey-birdie before carding eight straight pars from Nos. 13-2. Looking to heat up down the stretch Bagnoli did just that with four birdies in the final seven holes to storm into the lead. Last year one of Bagnoli's most notable finishes came at the Italian International Amateur where she was third.

Line Toft Hansen (Denmark) and Frida Kinhult (Sweden) are in second place at 4-under while Samantha Fuller (England), world No. 18 Julia Engstrom (Sweden) and Gioia Carpinelli (Switzerland) are sharing fourth at 3-under.

Engstrom reached 3-under with a five birdie, two bogey round that featured three consecutive birdies from Nos. 2-4.

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