GONZALEZ GLIDES INTO LEAD AT GLENEAGLES

 

FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

 

Ricardo Gonzalez fired a second consecutive 65 over the PGA Centenary Course at Gleneagles to charge into the halfway lead at the Johnnie Walker Championship.

 

A sensational run of seven birdies in eight holes ensured the big Argentinean a one stroke lead over Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger, with the English duo of Tommy Fleetwood and Mark Foster a further two strokes back heading into the weekend.

 

Gonzalez revealed after his round that he would dearly love to collect a fifth European Tour title to dedicate to his mother, father and father-in-law, who all passed away in the past two years.

 

“The last two years have been very difficult for me personally. I lost my mother and father last year and then my father in-in-law passed away last week so it would mean a lot for me to be able to win for them and to dedicate it to them.

 

“It would take a lot of pressure off me to be able to do that because it feels to me the right thing to do.

 

“I am feeling good on the golf course. I don’t think I have ever shot 65 two days in a row and everything has been working well. I suppose everything has to work well to make two scores like this.

 

“I am excited about the weekend and trying to keep doing exactly the same things as I have been doing for the past two days. If I can do that then I have a great chance to win again.”

 

Wiesberger, who has returned to Gleneagles for the first time since he was part of the five man play-off to decide the winner in 2011, when Thomas Björn took the title.

 

In the two years since that disappointing end to an otherwise great week, Wiesberger has matured into one of the most promising talents in world golf, winning twice in Korea and Austria.

 

Asked if would take a final score of 22 under par after his second round 66, the 27 year old replied: “No, I can go lower than that. I'm trying my best to improve all the time and it is getting better with every step of the way.  I had to learn the tough way – losing here in a playoff a couple years ago, I tried to feed off that, and the last couple years have gone pretty well.”

SECOND ROUND TOTALS
Par 144 (2x72)
+Scores of 141 and better qualified for
the third and fourth rounds

130 R Gonzalez (Arg) 65 65,

131 B Wiesberger  (Aut) 65 66,

133 M Foster (Eng) 66 67, T Fleetwood  (Eng) 68 65,

134 B Koepka  (USA) 68 66,

135 F Andersson Hed (Swe) 68 67, T Jaidee (Tha) 66 69, B Rumford (Aus) 66 69,

136 G Havret  (Fra) 67 69, F Molinari (Ita) 69 67, C Lee (Sco) 69 67, O Fisher  (Eng) 66 70,

137 R Ramsay  (Sco) 69 68, A Quiros  (Esp) 70 67, S Henry  (Sco) 72 65, P Lawrie (Sco) 70 67, E Grillo (Arg) 71 66, J Parry (Eng) 71 66,

138 P Lawrie (Irl) 71 67, T Lewis (Eng) 67 71, S Lowry  (Irl) 68 70, E Pepperell (Eng) 72 66, R Fisher (Eng) 66 72, D Horsey (Eng) 70 68, G Maybin (Nir) 68 70, C Doak (Sco) 69 69, D Drysdale (Sco) 71 67, P Waring  (Eng) 75 63,

139 M Nixon (Eng) 68 71, M Wiegele  (Aut) 69 70, P McGinley (Irl) 68 71, S Dyson  (Eng) 72 67, J Lagergren (Swe) 68 71, J Sjöholm (Swe) 68 71, D Fichardt (RSA) 69 70, G Bourdy (Fra) 68 71, I Garrido (Esp) 66 73, A Hansen (Den) 70 69, S Gallacher (Sco) 71 68, T Olesen (Den) 71 68, M Both (Aus) 69 70, M Lundberg (Swe) 70 69,

140 G Boyd  (Eng) 71 69, J Campillo (Esp) 69 71, M Baldwin (Eng) 70 70, R Jacquelin (Fra) 69 71, M Hoey  (Nir) 68 72, R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 71 69, M Tullo (Chi) 69 71, E De La Riva  (Esp) 68 72, G Stal  (Fra) 69 71, M Korhonen (Fin) 71 69, R Finch  (Eng) 73 67, S Hansen (Den) 69 71, M Madsen  (Den) 70 70, M Southgate  (Eng) 72 68, A Sullivan (Eng) 67 73,

141 S Thornton (Irl) 74 67, G Wright  (Wal) 69 72, L Jensen (Den) 70 71, R Santos  (Por) 69 72, S Wakefield (Eng) 70 71, E Kofstad (Nor) 71 70, A Levy (Fra) 70 71, M Jonzon (Swe) 71 70, D Willett  (Eng) 72 69, N Fenwick (Sco) 75 66, A Snobeck  (Fra) 72 69, J Olazábal (Esp) 73 68, D Howell (Eng) 71 70, T Levet (Fra) 71 70, J Morrison  (Eng) 72 69
MISSED THE CUT

142 M Lampert (Ger) 70 72, B Stone (RSA) 71 71, R Green (Aus) 71 71, C Paisley  (Eng) 71 71, M Brier (Aut) 67 75, C Lloyd (Eng) 71 71, K Broberg (Swe) 67 75, R Wattel  (Fra) 70 72, P Larrazábal (Esp) 70 72, G Murray  (Sco) 72 70, O Floren  (Swe) 72 70, G Robertson (am) (Sco) 72 70,

143 P Hedblom (Swe) 73 70, S Arnold  (Aus) 75 68, M Carlsson  (Swe) 73 70, G Lockerbie  (Eng) 74 69, J Edfors (Swe) 73 70, M Warren (Sco) 71 72, B Åkesson (Swe) 72 71, A Hartø  (Den) 74 69, G Shaw (Nir) 74 69, A Marshall (Eng) 72 71, L Slattery (Eng) 72 71, A Tadini (Ita) 74 69,

144 A Kaleka  (Fra) 74 70, G Hutcheon (Sco) 72 72, S O'Hara  (Sco) 73 71, S Kjeldsen (Den) 69 75, C Del Moral (Esp) 76 68, D Brooks (Eng) 74 70, S Chowrasia (Ind) 71 73,

145 P Whiteford (Sco) 74 71, T Van Der Walt (RSA) 70 75, D McGrane (Irl) 70 75, E Goya (Arg) 72 73, R Coles (Eng) 73 72, P Uihlein  (USA) 73 72, R Karlberg  (Swe) 72 73, M Lafeber (Ned) 72 73, S Dodd (Wal) 74 71, M Tunnicliff (Eng) 74 71, J Lara (Esp) 73 72, P Erofejeff (Fin) 72 73, K Horne (RSA) 70 75,

146 T Björn (Den) 72 74, J Kingston (RSA) 71 75, S Jamieson  (Sco) 72 74, M Kieffer (Ger) 74 72, S Little (Eng) 71 75, J Hansen  (Den) 74 72, M Delpodio  (Ita) 74 72, J Quesne  (Fra) 76 70, S Webster (Eng) 76 70, C Macaulay  (Sco) 75 71, A Forsyth (Sco) 71 75, C Cévaër (Fra) 72 74,

147 A Dodt (Aus) 73 74, W Booth  (Sco) 78 69, C Kelly (Sco) 77 70, A Cañizares  (Esp) 72 75, R Rock (Eng) 77 70, D Stewart (Sco) 72 75, S Hend (Aus) 71 76, P Price (Wal) 70 77, D Higgins (Irl) 72 75, J Singh (Ind) 72 75,

148 D Patrick (Sco) 77 71, G Storm  (Eng) 77 71, S Benson (Eng) 74 74, P McKechnie (Sco) 73 75, H Porteous (RSA) 73 75, A Culverwell (am) (Sco) 73 75,

149 S Henderson (Sco) 75 74, R Bland (Eng) 75 74, D Orr (Sco) 75 74,

150 M Campbell (Nzl) 76 74, J Walters (RSA) 74 76, R McEvoy  (Eng) 72 78,

151 N Fasth (Swe) 77 74,

152 P Gal  (Cze) 76 76,

154 L Gagli  (Ita) 79 75, F Zanotti (Par) 75 79,

156 J Gonnet  (Fra) 78 78,