Cecilie Leth-Nissen holds a commanding three-stroke lead at the 36-hole mark of the LET Access Series (LETAS) opening event – the 2026 Madäef Golfs Ladies Open by MSE.
The Danish star, who led after the first day, began with a bogey at the 10th hole but soon bounced back with back-to-back birdies on holes 14 and 15 at Royal Golf de Fes.
Leth-Nissen then added one further birdie on the third hole to seal a round of 70 (-2) and lead the tournament with a score of eight-under-par in Morocco.
“It was not as effortless today, I had a lot more missed greens, but I was very good at getting up-and-down from quite a few different places today,” said Leth-Nissen.
“I feel like today was a bit more difficult than yesterday, I had to work more for both the birdies and pars. I’m hoping to be able to wear fewer layers tomorrow.
“On this golf course, you have to be very precise into the greens and give yourself some good putts and also make sure you hit a lot of greens because that’s going to make your score lower.”
Leth-Nissen knows what it takes to win on LETAS having secured victory at the Smorum Ladies Open in 2022 as an amateur.
She added: “It’s been a few years since I won, but I will lean on some of the same things that I thought about back then.
“I will read some books later and tomorrow morning. I will definitely speak to my parents and sister before tomorrow, just to talk things through.”
Switzerland’s Caroline Sturdza fired a round of 68 (-4) – the joint best of the day – to move into solo second place with a score of five-under-par.
The Stanford graduate rolled in seven birdies during her round, as well as three bogeys to be three shots behind leader Leth-Nissen.
“I didn’t realise I had that many birdies,” said Sturdza. “The par-5s are quite short for me I feel like and I had a couple of irons into par-5s that felt like par-4s. I didn’t feel like I was making crazy birdies.
“I did have some long putts go in on some par-4s which was cool and worked in my favour, other than that I felt quite steady and made a couple of bogeys. Trying to erase those bogeys is the goal, but it’s the first tournament and I’ll take those bogeys and seven birdies.
“I’m really happy with where my game is going. I have been doing a lot of restructuring since my graduation of Stanford, and it’s been fun doing a lot of that work. I have a new coach and all this stuff. It’s great to see the work pay off especially in this wind where it’s quite tricky. The course is fun, I like the layout and it’s a great course to start the season.”
Canada’s Ashley Chow is in third place in the leaderboard on four-under-par after a round of 73 (+1) on day two in Morocco.
“Yesterday went better than today, but I still feel like I battled through today. It felt like one of those days where I wasn’t really picking the right clubs for the wind,” said Chow.
“I found myself in a lot of tricky positions and had a lot of four or five-footers for par. It was a bit more of a stressful day compared to yesterday which was just easy. You can come back tomorrow and it’s totally different! That’s the fun part you never know what it’s going to be. I’m definitely excited to be in the hunt for tomorrow, it’s always the goal.”
Spain’s Maria Villanueva and Switzerland’s Natalie Armbruester are in a tie for fourth place after rounds of 68 (-4) and 69 (-3), respectively.
Villanueva made an eagle on 16, rolled in a birdie on the second, and finished in style with two birdies in her last two holes on the eighth and ninth holes to be in T4 on three-under-par.
“On the eighth hole, which was my 17th, it was playing a little tough with the wind, but I hit a pretty nice 6-iron that I almost holed out,” said Villanueva. “On the last hole, the par-5, I hit a good driver, so I had an iron in my hand and hit it well to the green and two-putted.
“I have got used to playing in the wind maybe a little bit better than yesterday. I played well too yesterday, but I just missed a few shots. Today was a bit nicer. I’m going to take a big nap, I’m a little tired from watching the Masters yesterday!”
Austria’s Johanna Ebner and Spain’s Clara Moyano Reigosa are in a share of sixth place one shot further back on two-under, England’s Bel Wardle is eighth and four players round out the top 10 on level par.
The cut fell at +7 with 50 players making it through to the final day of the 2026 Madaëf Golfs Ladies Open by MSE.
Round three will begin at 8.40 am (local time) with the leaders teeing off at 11.30 am. The first winner of the 2026 LETAS season will be crowned at the end of the day.
Keep up with all the action on the LETAS on our socials – @LETAccess on Instagram and X and LET Access Series on Facebook.
