TWO superb closing holes saw Georgia Hall recover from a rocky start and play herself into contention to make the cut at the Women’s British Open.

The Parkstone amateur, who plans to turn pro at the end of this year, was in trouble early on at Royal Birkdale after dropping four shots in the first four holes this morning.

But she rallied in terrific fashion on the back nine and finished the first day on one-over- par, placing her just two shots behind defending champion Stacy Lewis and one behind the additional illustrious company of Inbee Park and Karrie Webb.

It was a remarkable recovery to a round which had started in disastrous fashion, with the 18-year-old carding a double-bogey six at the first.

Bogeys at two of the next three holes had her in major problems, and although four straight pars followed, another dropped shot at the ninth put her five-over.

However, the teenager was undeterred by the setbacks and set about clawing her way back into the upper echelons of the leader-board as she made gains at 11 and 14, the latter effort a birdie two.

A bogey at 16 might have followed but a stunning eagle three on 17 gave Hall a huge boost, before she signed off with a birdie four at the last.

Meanwhile, Ferndown GC’s Hayley Davis was top of the individual scores at the European Ladies’ Amateur Team Championship after two stroke play rounds.

Davis shot two-under and six-under in Ljubljana, Slovenia. She then helped England overcome Italy in yesterday’s quarter-final match play contest.