KARLBERG LEADS BY TWO AT HALFWAY IN RUSSIAN OPEN

REPORT FROM RUSSIAN OPEN
By EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

Rikard Karlberg carded a fine second round of four under par 68 in tricky, swirling winds to give himself a two-shot lead going into the weekend at the M2M Russian Open. 

The 26 year old moved to nine under at the halfway stage of the tournament, two stroke clear of England’s Matthew Baldwin, France’s Alexandre Kaleka, China’s Liang Wen-chong and Northern Ireland’s Michael Hoey. 

“It was a pretty tough day out there today because the wind got really strong in the middle of the round and caused quite a few problems,” said Karlberg, who birdied four of his first six holes, dropped shots at the 18th and fifth, then finished with two gains over the closing stretch to reclaim his advantage.

“But I made a really good start to the round and then when the conditions got worse I managed to hang in there and then had a great finish with two birdies in my last few holes which is very satisfying obviously. 

“I am in a great position right now but there is still a long way to go. We are only at the halfway stage and I need to keep doing what I have been doing and making birdies to have a chance.

“I am looking forward to the weekend – this is why we play the game; to get ourselves into these positions so hopefully I can keep playing well and make another good score tomorrow and we will go from there.” 

Kaleka won this event last year when it was part of the Challenge Tour schedule, and was delighted to overcome a double bogey at the 12th for the second day running with seven birdies as he signed for a round of 67 at a venue that clearly suits his eye.

The 26 year old Baldwin, who finished 76th in The Race to Dubai in his rookie campaign last year r, birdied his final hole for a 69 as he advanced to seven under. 

Overnight co-leader Liang had been level with Karlberg and England’s Simon Dyson on five under par after the first round. The Chinese Number One bogeyed the opening hole of his second round but fought back with four birdies and only one further dropped shot.

Four-time European Tour winner Hoey produced eight birdies and three bogeys in a fine 67 to move into contention. 

English amateur Jack Singh Brar shot the best round of the day with a 66 to climb more than 50 places and safely make the cut on one under, but his compatriot Dyson slipped back to three under after a 74 that included a double bogey seven on the 17th.

SECOND ROUND TOTALS

  par 144 (2x72)

135 R Karlberg  (Swe) 67 68

137 L Wen-Chong (Chn) 67 70, A Kaleka  (Fra) 70 67, M Hoey  (Nir) 70 67, M Baldwin (Eng) 68 69

138 M Foster (Eng) 69 69

139 J Morrison  (Eng) 68 71, M Nixon (Eng) 69 70, M Korhonen (Fin) 69 70, S Hend (Aus) 70 69

140 J Kingston (RSA) 71 69

141 S Wakefield (Eng) 73 68, S Dyson  (Eng) 67 74, A Tadini (Ita) 68 73, J Gonnet  (Fra) 70 71, J Roos (RSA) 70 71, A Hartø  (Den) 70 71, S Little (Eng) 69 72

142 J Singh (Ind) 71 71, T Pilkadaris (Aus) 71 71, J Elson  (Eng) 71 71, M Lafeber (Ned) 69 73, G Havret  (Fra) 72 70, G Lockerbie  (Eng) 72 70, D Gaunt (Aus) 70 72, D Horsey (Eng) 70 72, J Hansen  (Den) 72 70, D Higgins (Irl) 71 71

143 M Delpodio  (Ita) 69 74, M Campbell (Nzl) 70 73, M Carlsson  (Swe) 71 72, J Campillo (Esp) 72 71, C Paisley  (Eng) 72 71, A Snobeck  (Fra) 70 73, M Tullo (Chi) 74 69, J Singh Brar (am) (Eng) 77 66

144 S Hansen (Den) 77 67, C Lloyd (Eng) 71 73, R Wattel  (Fra) 72 72, S Chowrasia (Ind) 72 72, M Wiegele  (Aut) 72 72, A Levy (Fra) 72 72, T Van Der Walt (RSA) 73 71

145 J Maurer  (Aut) 71 74, P Meesawat  (Tha) 71 74, O Bekker (RSA) 74 71, T Lewis (Eng) 71 74, R McEvoy  (Eng) 74 71, O Floren  (Swe) 76 69

146 S Henry   (Sco) 73 73, S Garcia (Esp) 75 71, N Floren (Swe) 71 75

147 R Finch  (Eng) 73 74, G Bhullar (Ind) 74 73, H Porteous (RSA) 71 76, P Hedblom (Swe) 73 74, M Southgate  (Eng) 73 74, E Kofstad (Nor) 74 73, J Sjöholm (Swe) 78 69, J Colomo  (Esp) 68 79, A Forsyth (Sco) 74 73, P Martin Benavides (Esp) 70 77

148 A Lahiri (Ind) 78 70, J Lagergren (Swe) 74 74, C Macaulay  (Sco) 72 76, G Shaw (Nir) 71 77, D Brooks (Eng) 77 71, T Fleetwood  (Eng) 72 76

MISSED THE CUT
149 M Lundberg (Swe) 75 74, R Rock (Eng) 71 78, A Marshall (Eng) 76 73, J Fernandez-Valdes (Arg) 71 78, S Kjeldsen (Den) 75 74, P Price (Wal) 73 76, B Åkesson (Swe) 73 76

150 K Eriksson (Swe) 77 73, L Jensen (Den) 76 74, J Doherty  (Sco) 79 71, R Bland (Eng) 76 74

151 J Walters (RSA) 75 76, J Sandelin (Swe) 77 74, V Belov (am) (Rus) 79 72

152 C Suneson (Esp) 74 78, S Kapur (Ind) 76 76, A Pavlov (Rus) 80 72, D McGrane (Irl) 80 72, M Lampert (Ger) 79 73, C Doak (Sco) 73 79

153 M Madsen  (Den) 75 78, P Gustafsson (Swe) 80 73, L Claverie (Esp) 76 77, A Bruschi  (Ita) 77 76

154 C Lee (Sco) 76 78, A Dunbar (Nir) 75 79, M Nichols (Eng) 75 79

155 P Gal  (Cze) 78 77, K Lifanov (Rus) 79 76

156 P Erofejeff (Fin) 76 80, V Osipov (am) (Rus) 78 78, A Kleszcz (am) (Aut) 78 78

158 C Del Moral (Esp) 78 80

159 M Martinez (Ven) 77 82

162 P Goryainov (am) (Rus) 78 84, R De Heer (am) (Sui) 80 82

163 Y Kafelnikov (Rus) 81 82

165 M Morozov (am) (Rus) 82 83

169 N Ponomarev (am) (Rus) 86 83

176 J Ferraby (Eng) 89 87