Friday, December 19, 2008

Lorenzo-Vera two shots ahead at

halfway in South African Open

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Michael Lorenzo-Vera holds a two-shot lead at the South African Open Championship after a second round 65.
The Frenchman's seven under par effort at Pearl Valley Golf Estates took him to 12 under 132 for the tournament, two strokes clear of the challenging pack.
But the 23 year old faces stiff competition over the weekend with four time winner Ernie Els, World No 10 Lee Westwood, three time European Tour winner Charl Schwartzel and Volvo China Open champion Damien McGrane all hot on his heels at ten under par 134.
Lorenzo-Vera - who briefly led on the opening day when he completed the front nine in 31 before fading on the way in- started at the 10th and was two under at the turn, thanks to birdies on the tenth and 18th.
For the second day running he picked up five shots on the front nine and his bogey-free round set him clear at the top of the leaderboard.
And after a day to remember for the leader, he admitted afterward that his main aim coming into the competition was to test his right wrist, which he injured two months ago by falling over some stairs.
“It feels pretty good, pretty cool to be leading because I had two months of rest because of my wrist,” said Lorenzo-Vera, who was playing in his first tournament since the injury. “So I was just coming here to find some new feelings.
“Today was just like yesterday, the putting was very good. The first nine, the putts were not very good, I think mainly because they were long putts. But the second nine I hit the irons much closer. But everything was good.”
Looking forward to his chances for the weekend, the Frenchman said that he was hoping to make his good position count.
He added: “I hope this time I’m going to catch it. There were few occasions last year that I let it go, so I’m just going to try and make it a good weekend. I’ll be aiming to hit a lot of greens in regulation like I did today.”
McGrane produced the joint best round of the day - an eight under par 64.
The Irishman started on the tenth tee and picked up six birdies on the way out for a six under par 30 on the back nine.
He added another birdie at the first and picked up a shot at the 363 yard sixth to complete a bogey free round.
“It was strange the way it happened,” McGrane said after his round.
“We had a good three-ball [with Charl Schwartzel and Darren Fichardt], and Charl had four birdies to start his game straightaway and I had one par and four birdies to follow him.
“It was tough to get the honour on the front nine, but I think I was brought along by his momentum. He was playing well and he's a world-class player, as you know. I just got into the game and went along with his birdies.”
Westwood added a 68 to build on his opening 66, with five birdies and a single bogey in his first round.
He said: “I gave myself a lot of chances, when I missed the green my short game was good. I felt I rolled the ball better on the greens.
“I don't want to put any unneeded pressure on myself. I've not won all year and it would be nice to win this year, and also starting this Race to Dubai, it would be nice to get some momentum in that. It would also be good just to finish off the year solidly. I've played good all year, and I'm continuing to do it this week.”
South Africans have won this event seven years in a row and Els and Schwartzel were both in contention to make it an eighth.
Madrid Masters winner Schwartzel posted eight birdies in his seven under par 65, while Els - who last won the tournament two years ago - registered a second successive 67.
Schwartzel said: “I got off to a really good start. I birdied my first four holes, and then it just gets all around going.
“I hit some fantastic shots, and just sort of during the middle of the round, nothing was happening and my back nine started three birdies again.
“All in all, it was a very good round for me. I felt like I played really well and I didn't make any mistakes, except for my tee shot on the last, and still managed to escape with a par there, which was very nice.”
Els said: “It’s only the second round, halfway through the tournament and still so much to happen. I’m at ten under and pretty pleased with that. I had a nice day and even if a guy is at 15 under I don’t care.
“We’ve got two rounds left. If I’m two shots behind with two to play I still have a chance to win, so there’s still plenty of golf left.”
The trio of Thomas Aiken, David Horsey and Gareth Maybin were all just one shot further back on nine under for the tournament.
Aiken - who led last week`s Alfred Dunhill Championship going into the final round before slipping into a tie for fourth - said: “Obviously last week was a little disappointing, and it wasn't that easy to get it out of my mind but eventually I did come Thursday.
“I guess you just have to take the positives out of it. I had the two great rounds on a Friday and Saturday and didn't really play that bad on a Sunday, I just didn't sink any putts and hit one bad golf shot.
“It's a new week, obviously playing decently, so I put myself in a good position again this week to give myself a chance. That's what golf is all about, it's about giving yourself chances and one of them will come.”
An eagle 3 at the long fifth was the highlight of Englishman Horsey`s 65, while European Challenge Tour graduate Maybin recovered from three bogeys on the front nine to record a 69.

COLIN FARQUHARSON'S SCOTSWATCH:
Joint third overnight with a 66, Aberdeen's Richie Ramsay shot a level-par 72 today but, with the scoring so low, he actually lost ground - for the moment - on six-under-par 138.
Ramsay had to come home in 33 to salvage a 72, having bogeyed the second and short eighth and double-bogeyed the par-4 sixth. He had only one birdie, at the long fifth, on his outward half.
Richie got into his stride with birdies at the 11th, short 12th (a 2 for the second day in a row) and the long 13th (which cost him a 6 on Thursday). He dropped a shot at the 16th but finished in style by birdieing the monster last hole, all of 601yd.
David Drysdale got a rare eagle 3 at that same hole, having started at the 10th with birdies at the 10th and long 13th (which cost him a 7 in the first round). And he needed that eagle because he had a double bogey 5 at the short 16th.
Turning in two-under- 34, Drysdale repeated the score for his inward half with birdies at the short fourth and seventh. A 68 for 142 was just what he needed to ensure he beat the cut with a shot to spare.
Scottish amateur champion Callum Macaulay has now played six rounds on the European Tour - and has yet to do worse than par for any round. Which is quite a start for the Tulliallan man.
Today he got three under the card with a fine 69 for 140.

Macaulay started at the 10th and played his first five holes very efficiently with seven pars and birdies at the short 15th and long 18th. His first and only bogey came at the long third but didn't let that upset him and birdied the long fifth and seventh.
Glasgow-born Canada-based Alan McLean had a 72 for 143, good enough to get him through to the weekend action with nothing to spare. Born-again European Tour player Andrew Coltart continues to play very steadily since regaining his place on the circuit. He had a 72 for 143, covering the last nin holes in two under par 34 with seven pars and birdies at the 11th and short 12th after an outward half of 38 had made his prospects rather gloomy.

For Scott Drummond (73 for 144), Chris Doak (73 for 145) and Euan Little (74 for 148) the tournament is over.
Drummond had a double bogey 5 at the short fourth.
Doak had a dreadful 5-5-6 start (bogey-bogey-bogey) and had not got any of the shots back by the turn. He got a revival on the road with birdies at the 12th, 16th and 17th but, needing a birdie 4 at the long, long last to qualify, he instead marked up a bogey 6 and bowed out.

SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2 x 72)
132 Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 67 65.
134 Damien McGrane 70 64, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 69 65, Lee Westwood 66 68, Ernie Els (Saf) 67 67.
135 Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 71 64, Gareth Maybin 66 69, David Horsey 70 65
136 Len Mattiace (USA) 70 66, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 64 72, Keith Horne (Rsa) 66 70, Branden Grace (Rsa) 69 67, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 70 66, Michael Hoey 70 66, Ross McGowan 66 70
137 Martin Wiegele (Aut) 69 68, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 66 71, Chris Wood 68 69, Jaco Van Zyl (Rsa) 66 71, Carlos Del moral (Spa) 69 68, George Coetzee (Rsa) 69 68
138 Rory McIlroy 70 68, John Mellor 70 68, Richie Ramsay 66 72, Ake Nilsson (Rsa) 66 72, Adilson Da Silva (Bra) 70 68
139 Richard Finch 69 70, Oskar Henningsson (Swe) 65 74, Trevor Fisher Jnr (Rsa) 72 67
140 Merrick Bremner (Rsa) 71 69, Hennie Otto (Rsa) 68 72, Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 69 71, Jake Roos (Rsa) 70 70, Simon Dyson 67 73, David Frost (Rsa) 68 72, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 70 70, Lee Slattery 68 72, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 69 71, Antti Ahokas (Fin) 71 69, Callum Macaulay 71 69, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 70 70, Peter Karmis (Rsa) 69 71, Tim Clark (Rsa) 67 73
141 Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 72 69, Garth Mulroy (Rsa) 70 71, Darren Clarke 74 67, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 67 74, Gary Lockerbie 72 69, Adrian Ford (Rsa) 70 71, Dion Fourie (Rsa) 70 71, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 72 69, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 72 69, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 70 71
142 Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 72 70, Estanislao Goya (Arg) 70 72, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 69 73, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 71 71, Johan Edfors (Swe) 72 70, Peter Hanson (Swe) 74 68, Marco Ruiz (Par) 69 73, David Drysdale 74 68, Christiaan Basson (Rsa) 73 69, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 68 74
143 Steve Basson (Rsa) 72 71, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 74 69, Alan McLean 71 72, Andrew Coltart 71 72, Birgir Hafthorsson (Ice) 71 72, Albert Pistorius (Rsa) 68 75, Wil Besseling (Ned) 75 68, Justin Rose 69 74, Tyrone Ferreira (Rsa) 74 69, Gary Murphy 72 71, Tyrone Van Aswegen (Rsa) 72 71, Ariel Canete (Arg) 73 70, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 69 74
MISSED THE CUT
144 Ulrich Van Den Berg (Rsa) 74 70, Anton Haig (Rsa) 70 74, Robert Dinwiddie 73 71, Scott Drummond 71 73, Grant Veenstra (Rsa) 73 71, Tc Charamba (Zim) 75 69, Bradford Vaughan (Rsa) 72 72, David Lynn 71 73, Sam Walker 75 69, Grant Muller (Rsa) 72 72, Warren Abery (Rsa) 70 74, Mark Foster 71 73, James Kamte (Rsa) 68 76, Neil Schietekat (Rsa) 72 72
145 Alex Haindl (Rsa) 71 74, Andre Cruse (Rsa) 72 73, Dylan Frittelli (Rsa) 73 72, Bradley Davison (Rsa) 75 70, Alan Michell (Rsa) 70 75, Marc Cayeux (Zim) 72 73, Anthony Snobeck (Fra) 71 74, Chris Doak 72 73
146 Desvonde Botes (Rsa) 74 72, James Kingston (Rsa) 72 74, Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe) 73 73, Danny Willett 74 72, Ryan Cairns (Zim) 75 71, Cameron Johnston (Rsa) 76 70, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 74 72, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 73 73
147 Brandon Pieters (Rsa) 73 74, Alvaro Velasco (Spa) 70 77, Jean Hugo (Rsa) 71 76, Omar Sandys (Rsa) 77 70, Rossouw Loubser (Rsa) 71 76, Seve Benson 74 73, Dean Lambert (Rsa) 77 70, Deane Pappas (Rsa) 72 75
148 Nic Henning (Rsa) 76 72, Andrew Curlewis (Rsa) 72 76, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 70 78, Euan Little 74 74, Gary Clark 70 78, Michiel Bothma (Rsa) 75 73, Ross Wellington (Rsa) 76 72, Jake Redman (Rsa) 76 72, Ryan Tipping (Rsa) 71 77, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 73 75
149 Christian Cevaer (Fra) 72 77, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 76 73, Inder Van Weerelt (Ned) 77 72, Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 75 74, Vaughn Groenewald (Rsa) 74 75
150 Alexandre Rocha (Bra) 78 72, Paul Waring 73 77, Chris Williams (Rsa) 76 74, Justin Walters (Rsa) 72 78, Mark Murless (Rsa) 75 75, Gavan Levenson (Rsa) 73 77
151 Brett Liddle (Rsa) 73 78, Taco Remkes (Ned) 76 75, Doug McGuigan 77 74, Mark Williams (Rsa) 74 77
152 Henk Alberts (Rsa) 78 74, Thabang Simon (Rsa) 80 72
153 Josh Cunliffe (Rsa) 78 75, Derik Ferreira (Rsa) 78 75
155 Wallie Coetsee (Rsa) 75 80
156 Titch Moore (Rsa) 72 84, Shaun Norris (Rsa) 72 84, Teboho Sefatsa (Rsa) 75 81
157 Heinrich Bruiners (Rsa) 81 76, Lindani Ndwandwe (Rsa) 84 73
158 John Bele (Rsa) 79 79, Jbe Kruger (Rsa) 80 78
159 Dean O'riley (Rsa) 74 85, David Dixon 76 83
160 Mikhail Tewary (Rsa) 79 81

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