PGA EUROPRO TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

Paul Doherty shares lead with round

to go at De Vere Slaley Hall

By ANTHONY LEAVER

Scot Paul Doherty (Vale Hotel), pictured right, and Englishmen Chris Hanson (Woodsome Hall) and Simon Lilly (Wellingborough) are joint leaders by two strokes at one under par in the 2009 PGA EuroPro Tour Championships at De Vere Slaley Hall, Northumberland.
Hanson led by one stroke after his opening round of two-under-par 70 but he found his second round tougher going and a one-over 73 saw him drop to one under par 143.

The 24 year-old began well with birdies at the fourth and sixth holes moving him to four under, but a double-bogey at seven was followed by bogeys at eight and nine to move to level par – with three birdies and two bogeys on the back nine taking him to 73 for the day and one under after two rounds.
Lilly produced a fine round of 70 to join Hanson at the top of the leaderboard, beginning on the back nine with two birdies before dropping his only shot of the round at the second but making that back at the fourth to leave the 2004 Order of Merit winner in a very strong position after an opening round 73.
Completing the triumvirate in pole position for the £15,000 winner’s cheque is former Scottish boys' amateur match-play champion Paul Doherty who recorded a level par second round, thanks to cancelling out a pair of bogeys on the front nine with birdies at 11 and 12.
Level par was also the score that sees Colin Roope (wstore.co.uk) sit two strokes behind the leading trio at one over par.

Roope played in Hanson’s three-ball and endured an up-and-down day, recording his first birdie of the day at the fourth but then dropping three shots before the turn. The 29 year-old responded immediately though with back-to-back birdies from the tenth and picked up another birdie at 16 but a bogey at the last saw his deficit move from one stroke to two.
Roope will tee-off with Steve Surry (Cumberwell Park) in the final round after the Bath man carded a one under round of 71 to move to one over for the tournament. Surry – who won the opening event of the Tour back in May – began his second round on the back nine where he picked up three birdies and one bogey to move to level par after an opening round 74.

A fourth birdie of the day moved him to one under for the tournament but he slipped to one over with bogeys at the fourth and seventh holes.
Sandeep Grewal (ISM) will join Roope and Surry in the final round after a three over round of 75 dropped him to two over for the tournament.

Grewal is joined by Llewellyn Matthews (Southerndown GC) who also recorded a 75 and Steven Parry (Bolton) who recorded his second 73 of the tournament in eventful fashion with an eagle and three birdies spoiled by six bogeys, including a bogey-bogey finish.
At the end of the Tour Championships the top five in the Order of Merit progress onto the Challenge Tour for 2010, so with money list leader Scott Jamieson seven over for the tournament, the door is wide open for his rivals to pounce.

Currently lying in second spot is Tom Haylock (Ground Construction Ltd) who recorded a one over par round of 73 to sit in a three-way tie for 13th spot at four over. Daniel Brooks (Mill Hill) is in third spot on the money list but is struggling alongside Jamieson at seven over, so Paul Doherty's older brother Jack, playing out of North Gailes Golf Centre, Ayrshire, and Paul Dwyer (Clitheroe) will consider themselves in the best position to capitalise at three over par, alongside Phil Worthington (Donnington Grove).
The final round of the Tour Championship from De Vere Slaley Hall begins at 8.15am on Thursday with the final three-ball of Paul Doherty and Hanson, Lilly teeing-off at 9.45am.

Live scoring from what promises to be a nail-biting final round in Northumberland is available via the Score Updates link at http://www.europrotour.com/, where you can find the full leaderboard after the opening two rounds.
BETTING LATEST
Chris Hanson is the 11/4 favourite with official bookmakers Sky Bet to win the Tour Championships. Simon Lilly is rated a 3-1 chance with Paul Doherty 100-30 to win.

To bet on the Tour Championships with Sky Bet, click on this link: http://www.skybet.com/skybet?action=GoEvClass&id=34&aff=4527&EPT_Website

LEADING TWO-ROUND TOTALS

Par 144 (2x72)

143 S Lilly 73 70, P Doherty 71 72, C Hanson 70 73.

145 S Surry 74 71, C Roope 73 72.

146 S Parry 73 72, S Grewal 71 75, L Matthews 71 75.

147 B McElhinney 75 72, J Doherty 73 74, P Dwyer 73 74, P Worthington 73 74.

Other Scots' scores:

=24 Scott Jamieson +7 76, 75 - 151
=31 Lee Harper +8 75, 77 - 152
=31 Elliot Saltman +8 76, 76 - 152
=43 Lorne Kelly +11 78, 77 - 155
=43 Duncan Stewart +11 78, 77 - 155
49 Mark Kerr +12 76, 80 - 156
51 Barry Hume +14 81, 77 - 158