Georgia Hall will put thoughts of a Solheim Cup debut to one side as she concentrates on becoming the first English winner of the Women’s British Open since 2004.

Hall carded a second round of 67 at Kingsbarns to share second place alongside world No2 Lexi Thompson, two shots behind South Korea’s IK Kim.

Kim added a 68 to her opening 65 to post a halfway total of 11 under par, with the first-round leader Michelle Wie falling seven shots off the pace after a disappointing 76, 12 shots worse than her course record on Thursday.

Hall’s place on the European Solheim Cup team will be confirmed when the team are finalised on Sunday evening but the 21-year-old from Bournemouth is trying to avoid thinking about the contest with the United States this month.

“It’s been a massive thing for me growing up and it’s not far away now, so I’m going to think about that next week and just focus on the next two rounds,” Hall said after a round containing seven birdies, including four in a row from the second.

“I don’t think I’ve had four birdies in a row before, so I was very happy to be four under after five. I holed a good putt on the second and had a tap-in on three, a 20-footer for birdie on four and made an eight-footer on the fifth. I hit it quite close, which made it a bit easier. I’m playing and putting really well, so that’s helping me.”

Thompson made headlines in the first major of the year when she was leading by three shots during the final round of the ANA Inspiration, only to be informed by tournament officials she would be penalised for an incident which took place the previous day.

The 22-year-old was penalised two strokes for incorrectly replacing a marked ball on the 17th green and another two for signing an incorrect scorecard after a television viewer had alerted LPGA officials to the incident via email.

Thompson, who went on to lose in a play-off to Korea’s Ryu So-yeon, was two over par after four holes of her second round at Kingsbarns, but stormed home in 30 with the aid of five birdies in a row from the 10th.

“It was definitely a slow start but I hit it great in the beginning, just had two three-putts,” Thompson told Sky Sports. “But I’m very happy with the back nine obviously.”

Thompson’s caddie Kevin McAlpine used to work at Kingsbarns and is the son of the former Dundee United goalkeeper Hamish, as well as being a former Scottish amateur champion.

“This week he has some local knowledge so I’ve been trusting him so much and leaning on him,” Thompson added. “He knows this course like the back of his hand so it’s been helping me out a lot.”

England’s Charley Hull and Mel Reid are six shots off the pace after rounds of 71 and 72 respectively, with Dame Laura Davies nine adrift following a 74.