DUNCAN STEWART CHASING MAIDEN CHALLENGE TOUR TITLE

FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Grantown-on-Spey's Duncan Stewart is hoping to turn his impressive run of form into a maiden European Challenge Tour title after he moved into contention at the Finnish Challenge, thanks to a four under par second round of 68, which left him two shots off the lead on 11 under par.

It continued a run of six below-par rounds for the 29 year old Scot 

as he looks to capture a first title of the year, having earned two 

wins on the satellite EuroPro Tour last year.

Teeing off on the tenth at Kytäjä Golf, in Hyvinkää near Helsinki, 

Stewart had a scorching back nine to thank for his good score on 

day two as he carded four birdies on the way back to add to a single 

bogey at the sixth, the only hole on which he missed the green in 

regulation.

“Obviously hitting 17 greens in regulation was nice,” he said. “The 

front nine was pretty tricky actually when it rained quite a bit, it 

was playing really long and the wind was up so it was definitely 

playing more difficult.

“The putter was pretty solid again although I didn’t hole much but 

every second putt was a tap-in. I holed a really nice one though at 

the fifth. The only green I missed was in a tough lie right on top of 

a knoll so it was a tricky up and down but that the only bogey I've 

made in 36 holes so I'm happy with that.

“Overall I was playing pretty solid, which is nice because it’s not a 

course that particularly suits me. I'm not the longest off the tee and 

that brings a lot of bunkers into play, whereas if I had an extra 15

or 20 yards I’d be flying them.

“But I'm keeping it in play and I've only missed four fairways in

36 holes so it’s nothing spectacular but nothing bad, really solid.”

Stewart is confident that he knows how to win if he finds himself i

in contention come the final day and is looking forward to the 

weekend.

“My top ten finish at the Scottish Hydro Challenge kick-started me 

a bit this season,” said the Grantown-on-Spey man. “I was 

struggling at the start of the season, I was trying to change a few 

things and then I just went back to doing what I was doing before.

“Last week, I was struggling in the first nine holes of the 

tournament but I just found something and went from there and

had a chance to win.

“Everything is going well so I can’t complain. If I get confident I 

know I have a chance to win. I either make the cut doing well or 

miss it and there’s usually not much in between. It’s not a bad way 

to be if you can win but it hasn’t happened yet so hopefully it’s 

around the corner.”

Meanwhile, South Africa’s Brandon Stone proved why he is 

regarded as one of the hottest young talents in world golf as the 20 

year old rocketed into the lead midway through his Challenge Tour 

debut, thanks to a six under par 66.

The Pretoria native, who received the Phil Mickelson Award for 

best college freshman in the USA last year, has been spoken of in 

glowing terms after an amateur career which yielded an incredible 

18 titles.

After such an impressive career in the non-paid ranks, Stone is 

taking to professional life like a duck to water, claiming a top ten 

finish in his debut on The European Tour as a pro at June’s BMW 

International Open, and he is now in the driving seat for a maiden 

title in Finland.

For more, visit www.europeantour.com/challengetour

SECOND-ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 144 (2x72)
 

131 B Stone (RSA) 65 66

132 N Lemke (Swe) 64 68, L Kennedy  (Eng) 67 65

133 D Stewart (Sco) 65 68

134 S Manley (Wal) 65 69, J Elson  (Eng) 67 67, R Kakko  (Fin) 66 68, J Fahrbring (Swe) 65 69

135 S Hutsby  (Eng) 69 66, T Hatton (Eng) 65 70

136 J Lima  (Por) 68 68, A Johnston (Eng) 68 68, J Guerrier  (Fra) 66 70, W Besseling  (Ned) 66 70, E Myllymaki (am) (Fin) 66 70,

137 C Kim (USA) 66 71, R Davies (Wal) 69 68, S Kim (Kor) 64 73, T Pieters  (Bel) 69 68, A Velasco (Esp) 67 70

138 O Bekker (RSA) 69 69, A Ahokas (Fin) 68 70, B Ritthammer (Ger) 68 70, D Brooks (Eng) 68 70, R Prophet (Eng) 71 67, L Bjerregaard  (Den) 69 69, K Borsheim  (Nor) 67 71, J McLeary  (Sco) 69 69, D Huizing (Ned) 67 71, J Barnes (Eng) 69 69

139 D Ulrich (Sui) 70 69, B Hebert  (Fra) 72 67, B Chapellan (Fra) 69 70, F Calmels  (Fra) 68 71, J Kaske (Fin) 71 68

140 G Shaw (Nir) 68 72, J Carlsson (Swe) 72 68, R Dinwiddie  (Eng) 68 72, M Ford (Eng) 70 70, D Geminiani (Ita) 68 72, A Hortal  (Esp) 68 72, S Little (Eng) 68 72, E Espana (Fra) 70 70, N Ravano (Ita) 71 69, L Goddard  (Eng) 67 73, A Eckhardt (am) (Fin) 72 68, M Kuronen (am) (Fin) 69 71

141 A Otaegui  (Esp) 71 70, A Domingo (Esp) 71 70, P Maddy (Eng) 68 73, M Trappel  (Aut) 70 71, S Kapur (Ind) 70 71, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 74 67, P Archer (Eng) 70 71, C Pigem (Esp) 70 71, A McArthur  (Sco) 70 71, J Granberg  (Fin) 69 72, P Widegren  (Swe) 70 71, G Cambis  (Fra) 69 72,

142 D Perrier (Fra) 70 72, A Pavan (Ita) 69 73, H Porteous (RSA) 71 71, S Piaget  (Mon) 71 71, J Glennemo (Swe) 71 71, D Im (USA) 70 72, V Riu  (Fra) 71 71, M Tullo (Chi) 66 76, E Bertheussen (Nor) 69 73, K Samooja (Fin) 72 70, P Erofejeff (Fin) 67 75, C Aguilar  (Esp) 69 73, N Dougherty  (Eng) 70 72, R Steiner (Aut) 68 74, H Satama (Fin) 70 72, M Korhonen (Fin) 71 71, R Saxton (Ned) 68 74, P Oriol (Esp) 71 71,

 

MISSED THE CUT

 

143 O Wilson (Eng) 70 73, N Elvira  (Esp) 68 75, O Jarvi (Fin) 74 69, J Howarth (Eng) 71 72, J Dantorp (Swe) 71 72, A Bernadet  (Fra) 70 73, R Kellett (Sco) 70 73, A Forsyth (Sco) 71 72, D Vancsik (Arg) 75 68, J Makitalo  (Fin) 71 72, P Figueiredo  (Por) 70 73, T Remkes (Ned) 72 71, T Bakker (am) (Fin) 67 76

144 T Tuovinen  (Fin) 72 72, R Russell (Sco) 71 73, J Huldahl (Den) 69 75, J Mikkelsen (Nor) 72 72, T Murray (Eng) 71 73, J Sandelin (Swe) 73 71, E Dubois (Fra) 73 71, S Walker (Eng) 71 73, F Praegant (Aut) 71 73, G Boyd  (Eng) 70 74, M Crespi  (Ita) 70 74, N Dahlgren (Fin) 73 71

145 B Etchart  (Esp) 69 76, A Rota (Ita) 75 70, G Stal  (Fra) 70 75, W Booth  (Sco) 73 72, M Salminen (Fin) 71 74, M Haastrup  (Den) 72 73, D Frittelli (RSA) 70 75, B Parker  (Eng) 72 73, D Griffiths  (Eng) 76 69, T Pulkkanen  (Fin) 75 70, M Novy  (Cze) 72 73, S Benson (Eng) 71 74, J Lando Casanova  (Fra) 70 75, J Kahlos (am) (Fin) 72 73,

146 D Palm (Swe) 71 75, H Joannes  (Bel) 68 78, J Heath  (Eng) 75 71, C Brazillier  (Fra) 71 75, C Ford (Eng) 73 73,

147 D Wuensche  (Ger) 72 75, A Bossert (Sui) 75 72, N Meitinger  (Ger) 70 77, F Colombo (Ita) 73 74,

148 L Saltman (Sco) 71 77, G Houston (Wal) 76 72, R Quiros  (Esp) 73 75, F Bergamaschi (Ita) 73 75, Å Nilsson (Swe) 72 76, J Mommo  (Fin) 73 75, J Senior (Eng) 74 74, A Engell  (Nor) 68 80, J Timmis (Eng) 75 73, M Zions (Aus) 73 75,

149 I Korvenmaa (Fin) 75 74, F De Vries  (Ned) 73 76, A Perrino  (Ita) 74 75, M Nichols (Eng) 76 73, J Gibb (Eng) 70 79, T Nørret (Den) 75 74,

150 G Murray  (Sco) 75 75, P O'Keeffe  (Irl) 73 77, T Pilkadaris (Aus) 75 75, J Abbott (Eng) 75 75, R Mattila (Fin) 70 80,

151 P Dwyer (Eng) 72 79, T Toivonen (am) (Fin) 76 75,

152 A Gee  (Eng) 76 76,

153 M Lampert (Ger) 74 79, S Matus  (Cze) 75 78,

155 S Grant  (Irl) 77 78,

157 F Svanberg  (Sui) 80 77,

169 Y Kafelnikov (Rus) 85 84,

** C Macaulay  (Sco) 72 RT, R McGowan  (Eng) 76 RT,

 

 

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

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