Aussie golfers in contention in Abu Dhabi

Australian duo Sarah Kemp and Rebecca Artis are within range of the top of the leaderboard with a round to negotiate in the Ladies European Tour Fatima Bint Mubarak Open in Abu Dhabi.

Kemp shaved two strokes off her opening round even-par 72 to sit three strokes adrift of English leader Charley Hull who struggled to add a par round to her first-up 67.

Artis also battled to handle blustery conditions at the Saadiyat Beach Golf Club before carding a 73 to sit at one-under for the tournament.

Hull takes a slender one stroke lead over compatriot Jodi Ewart Shadoff into the final round.

Shadoff birdied her last two holes for a second-successive 70, the joint lowest score of a day which saw just 11 players break par.

Norway's Marianne Skarpnord, Sweden's Cajsa Persson and Spain's Luna Sobron are two shots off the pace on three-under.

"It was really tough out there today," Hull said.

"To give you an example, I flushed a seven iron 118 yards on hole 17. The pin was 120 yards and I still came up short. I usually hit that club 165-170 yards, so that is a ridiculous wind."