Monty and George Murray joint ninth

as winds blow at Egyptian Open

By ALAN EWENS
Spain’s Carl Suneson and Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark share the lead at the halfway point of the Egyptian Open after winds of up to 25kmh prevented low scoring over the Cairo course.
Overnight leader Suneson battled hard in the conditions to card a one over par 73 and go joint top with Olesen on six under par 138 overall with the Dane being one of only nine players to break par in the blustery conditions.
Olesen’s two under par 70 saw him edge ahead of the chasing pack of Englishman Steven Tiley, Welshman Kyron Sullivan and Cairo-based Swede Calle Carlsson all on five under.
“It was very hard to putt out there today,” admitted Suneson. “The greens are good but in this wind you have to get the ball close to the hole. I knew it would be tough for everyone today so to drop a shot and still be in the lead is a good result.”
Pre-event favourite Colin Montgomerie remains in the hunt for the prestigious Egyptian Open trophy – the oldest golf trophy in the region - despite a difficult second round at the JW Marriott Mirage City Golf Club.
The eight-time European No 1 and current European Ryder Cup captain had to birdie the last two holes to salvage an even-par 72 after the stiff desert wind threatened to blow his championship charge off course.
“The wind made it very difficult out there today and, if anything, it got worse as the day went on,” said Monty after finishing on three under 141 overall.
He is joint ninth with fellow Scot George Murray, another past Scottish amateur champion, from Anstruther, Fife. Murray, a campaigner on the European Challenge Tour, has had rounds of 70 and 71.
Colin Montgomerie said after his round:
“I finished well with birdies on the last two holes but again I struggled on the 11th hole and dropped two shots because of a really bad drive for the second day in a row. But I’m still in there battling away and all set for the weekend.”
Dropped shots on the first and 16th as well as the double bogey on 11 were offset by birdies on holes two, nine, 17 and 18 to leave the Scot on 141 (-3) and still within touching distance of the leaders.
The $200,000 Egyptian Open's field was cut to 60 players and ties for the final two rounds at the weekend.
Defending champion and home favourite Amr Abou El Ella bowed out with rounds of 81 and 80 to end his chances of making it an astonishing 13 wins in what is the oldest golfing event of its kind in the Middle East and Africa.
LEADING SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2x72)
138 Carl Suneson (Spa) 65 73, Thorbjorn Olesen (Den) 68 70.
139 Steven Tilley (Eng) 69 70, Kyron Sullivan (Wal) 66 73, Calle Carlsson (Sswe) 66 73.
140 Julien Grillon (Fra) 66 74, Thomas Feyrsinger (Aut) 69 71, Jan-Are Larssen (Nor) 70 70.
141 Steve Surry (Eng) 69 72, Colin Montgomerie (Sco) 69 72, George Murray (Sco) 70 71.
142 Ian Keenan (Eng) 71 71, Lloyd Kennedy (Eng) 72 70, Leif Westerberg (Swe) 70 72, Jamie Moule (Eng) 69 73, Christoph Gunter (Ger) 70 72, David Griffiths (Eng) 71 71, Andre Bossert (Swi) 69 73, Joel Sjoholm (Swe) 68 74.
Selected scores:
143 Richard Kilpatrick (NIr) 70 73.
144 Andrew Marshall (Eng) 67 77, Craig Smith (Wal) 70 74, Dale Marmion (Eng) 71 73, Rob Harris (Eng) 72 72.
145 Simon Dunn (Sco) 71 74, Ross Bain (Sco) 70 75.
146 Gareth Shaw (NIr) 74 72, Daniel Denison (Eng) 72 74.
147 Sandeep Grewal (Eng) 73 74, Andrew Butterfield (Eng) 74 73.
148 Philip Golding (Eng) 69 79, Daniel Wardrop (Eng) 74 74.
149 Scott Jamieson (Sco) 70 79, Matthew Mills (Eng) 70 79, Ally Mellor (Eng) 74 75.
150 Ben Evans (Eng) 73 77.
152 Matthew Dearden (Wal) 75 77.
153 Steven Wilson (Wal) 79 74, Lee Corfield (Eng) 78 75.
MISSED THE CUT
154 Adam Gee (Eng) 75 79.
161 Steven Burton (Sco) 76 85, James Waycott (Eng) 80 81.