Barring a brief while towards the closing stages of her round, Gwladys Nocera was in total control of her emotions, staying patient and unflustered even in adverse conditions.

As a golfer, she knows the importance being calm even in adversity. With one part of her game under control, overnight leader Nocera just paraded the other part, the skills one, for a little over four hours at the par-72, 6,588-yard Eagleton Golf Resort here on Thursday.

The result was a second successive three-under-par 69 on another blustery day in the second round of the euro 200,000 Emaar-MGF Ladies Masters, the penultimate stop on the Ladies European Tour. That effort kept Nocera (138) on the top of the leaderboard, helping her open up a huge five-stroke lead over a group of four in second spot.

If only her putter had been as hot as on the opening day, the Frenchwoman would have been sitting on an even bigger cushion. Or for that matter, if she had avoided the 17th hole hiccup, the only blemish on an otherwise excellent day in office.

Also, that was the only time she was not in control of herself. But then, she didn't let out a gut-wrenching yell or chuck her club in frustration! She just kept shaking her head in disbelief after a four-footer caught the lip and stayed out. But even before she walked off the green, it was history. "It's alright, a bogey happens. When you are playing a lot of golf, you realise how not to take that bogey with you and have another bogey," Nocera explained. She didn't and reaped the dividends.

Just on the fringe of the green with her second shot from the rough on the closing hole, Nocera holed a 15-foot chip for a birdie. She waved to the crowd and did a high-five with her caddie, who has been giving her excellent reads.

"I think I stayed patient, I hit a few drives on and off and I hit 15 greens. I think the key today was the irons, even if I pulled a few," noted Nocera. The one costly pulled one came on the 17th, when she found the greenside bunker on the left with her pitching wedge from the rough. Though she came out nicely, she left it a little short for a bogey five.

That apart, Nocera hardly put a foot wrong. She sank a 15-foot birdie on the fourth and a brilliant downhill 25-footer on the next to take the turn at two-under. A brilliant approach shot left her with a five-footer for birdie on the 10th hole. She duly converted that.

For overnight joint leaders Lotta Wahlin (75) and Anna Tybring (82), it was a struggle all the way as they slipped down the leaderboard with dismal second-day efforts. While Wahlin was tied sixth on 144, Tybring was tied 37th. Plucksataporn (71), Lee (72), Johnson (70) and Prieto (70) were tied for the second spot.
Leading scores (after 36 holes): 138: Gwladys Nocera (Fra, 69, 69); 143: Titiya Plucksataporn (Thai, 72, 71), Bo Ri Lee (Kor, 71, 72), Trish Johnson (Eng, 73, 70), Marta Prieto (Esp, 73, 70); 144: Eva Steinberger (Aut, 74, 70), Lotta Wahlin (Swe, 69, 75).

Indians: 148: Tania Wadhwa (74, 74); 153: Smriti Mehra (Ind, 82, 71); 156: Meghna Bal (A, 78, 78); 160: Sharmila Nicollet (A, 82, 78), Sanniya Sharma (78, 82); 166: Nonita Qureshi (82, 84), Shalini Malik (86, 80); 169: Nitika Jadeja (86, 83).