Rafa riding high again in Germany

Rafa Cabrera-Bello sits at the top of the leaderboard at the halfway mark of BMW International Open for the second consecutive year following a five under par second round of 67 in Munich.
The Spaniard was part of a four-way share of the lead 12 months ago before being defeated by Fabrizio Zanotti in a play-off, but he holds the outright lead this time round, as he attempts to go one better at Golfclub München Eichenried.

Cabrera-Bello, a two-time European Tour winner, fired six birdies in his opening 11 holes, including chipping in from the drop zone on the 18th hole (having started on the tenth tee) after finding the water with his approach. He made his only bogey of the day on the eighth hole – his penultimate of the day – but a par on the last meant he finished on 12 under par, the same 36-hole total he posted last year.

He is a shot clear of Englishman James Morrison, the Open de España champion, who signed for a round of 66, having carded only one bogey - on the 14th hole – in his first two rounds.

Joint first round leader Lasse Jensen of Denmark is a further shot back on ten under par following a round of 69, alongside Northern Ireland’s Michael Hoey, who surged up the leaderboard with nine birdies in his impressive round of 65.

But home favourite Martin Kaymer missed the cut after finding the water on the 18th hole. The two-time Major Champion would have needed a closing birdie to make the weekend, but his resulting bogey for a round of 71 meant he finished on one under par and fell two strokes short.

Key player quotes

Rafa Cabrera-Bello – 67 (-12 total)

“I'm pleased with the score.  I do feel like the score could have been a little better especially after being 13‑under and seven holes to play.  I didn't play so good on the last few holes.  I made a few sloppy swings but nothing really to worry about.  I will just take it that I got my chances earlier in the round, I made the mistakes in the end and that's the way it works sometimes.

“This course is very scorable.  There are tons of great players here and they are all trying, as I am, to take the trophy home.  I'm just going to try to keep playing the same way I've been playing.  If that is aggressive, that is aggressive.  If it comes to the point where I need to play a little bit smarter, I'll try to do that, but at the moment, just keep playing the way I've been doing.”£

Michael Hoey – 65 (-10 total)

“I knew the greens would be better today, and I putted well.  It was an opportunity today to shoot seven under, which I did.  I’m very happy with my putting which is the main thing.  I scored really well, and obviously in pro golf on this golf course, you have to score well.”

Lasse Jensen – 69 (-10 total)

“I think you get used to having this feeling when you are out there.  You get more experience about playing in the last group, and obviously that helps me.  Some boys are there every week, so they feel like they should be there every week. But for a guy like me, it's very important that I have a slow progress each week and in the end of the day, that will give me some confidence.  So I'm just going to have a nice weekend here in München.”

Martin Kaymer – 71 (-1 total)

“Of course it's very disappointing, especially on the last hole. The last three or four holes, I gave myself very good chances.  I hit a lot of edges today, as well.  I hit good putts but the ball didn't want to go in.”

Complete round two scores (par 72)

132 R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 65 67,

 133 J Morrison  (Eng) 67 66,

 134 L Jensen (Den) 65 69, M Hoey  (Nir) 69 65,

 135 T Jaidee (Tha) 68 67,

 136 P Larrazábal (Esp) 70 66, A Cañizares  (Esp) 70 66, C Paisley  (Eng) 69 67,

 137 B Dredge (Wal) 69 68, P Hanson (Swe) 69 68, P Lawrie (Irl) 70 67, J Lagergren (Swe) 68 69,

 138 D Horsey (Eng) 70 68, L Bjerregaard  (Den) 71 67, M Schneider (Ger) 68 70, J Carlsson (Swe) 69 69, J Van Zyl (RSA) 70 68, R Goosen (RSA) 68 70, A Johnston (Eng) 66 72, M Carlsson  (Swe) 70 68, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 67 71, H Stenson (Swe) 67 71, D Gaunt (Eng) 65 73, A Hansen (Den) 69 69, E Espana (Fra) 69 69,

 139 P Lawrie (Sco) 68 71, A Wall (Eng) 70 69, E Pepperell (Eng) 69 70, B Wiesberger  (Aut) 71 68, T Bjørn (Den) 71 68, S Lowry  (Irl) 72 67, D Howell (Eng) 69 70, J Quesne  (Fra) 68 71, M Ford (Eng) 70 69, V Dubuisson  (Fra) 72 67, T Olesen (Den) 71 68, K Phelan (Irl) 68 71,

 140 M Madsen  (Den) 71 69, V Riu  (Fra) 67 73, R Fisher (Eng) 71 69, F Fritsch  (Ger) 68 72, C Del Moral (Esp) 69 71, G Stal  (Fra) 70 70, J Luiten (Ned) 72 68, G Mulroy (RSA) 69 71, J Campillo (Esp) 69 71, O Farr (Wal) 69 71, A Velasco (Esp) 71 69, K Broberg (Swe) 71 69, H Otto (RSA) 71 69, T Van Der Walt (RSA) 68 72,

 141 M Kieffer (Ger) 72 69, J Roos (RSA) 71 70, G Bourdy (Fra) 75 66, T Fleetwood  (Eng) 67 74, M Siem  (Ger) 71 70, S Wakefield (Eng) 71 70, A Kirstein (Ger) 70 71, P Oriol (Esp) 70 71, C Doak (Sco) 71 70, S Kjeldsen (Den) 73 68, D Clarke (Nir) 70 71, M Foster (Eng) 76 65, T Hatton (Eng) 71 70, D McGrane (Irl) 69 72,

MISSED THE CUT
 142 R Santos  (Por) 70 72, N Colsaerts  (Bel) 71 71, R Karlberg  (Swe) 70 72, B Hebert  (Fra) 72 70, L Slattery (Eng) 74 68, S Kapur (Ind) 72 70, D Brooks (Eng) 72 70, O Fisher  (Eng) 71 71, F Zanotti (Par) 71 71, T Lewis (Eng) 73 69, R Kakko  (Fin) 71 71, M Tullo (Chi) 74 68,

 143 J Scrivener (Aus) 73 70, D Drysdale (Sco) 71 72, M Kaymer (Ger) 72 71, M Bremner (RSA) 75 68, M Crespi  (Ita) 71 72, R Bland (Eng) 72 71, C Lloyd (Eng) 70 73,

 144 M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) 69 75, J Barnes (Eng) 76 68, B Virto Astudillo (Esp) 73 71, J Parry (Eng) 74 70, N Fasth (Swe) 70 74, D Fichardt (RSA) 74 70, M Lampert (Ger) 73 71, D Woltman (USA) 72 72, S Benson (Eng) 71 73, M Korhonen (Fin) 71 73, F Aguilar (Chi) 74 70,

 145 S Henry  (Sco) 72 73, E De La Riva  (Esp) 73 72, T Fisher Jnr (RSA) 69 76, J Kunzenbacher (Ger) 75 70, S Jamieson  (Sco) 73 72, I Garrido (Esp) 71 74, J Hahn (USA) 73 72, D Lipsky (USA) 75 70,

 146 J Walters (RSA) 76 70, G Green  (Mas) 71 75, J Lando Casanova  (Fra) 75 71, B Ritthammer (Ger) 71 75, E Molinari  (Ita) 68 78, G Storm  (Eng) 77 69, W Ormsby (Aus) 72 74, J Singh (Ind) 71 75, R Jacquelin (Fra) 72 74, A Quiros  (Esp) 74 72, G Havret  (Fra) 71 75, D Foos (Ger) 74 72, C Wood  (Eng) 73 73, Y Paul (am) (Ger) 76 70, M Rottluff (am) (Ger) 75 71,

 147 C Villegas (Col) 73 74, J Edfors (Swe) 72 75, M Fitzpatrick  (Eng) 75 72, R Echenique (Arg) 75 72, A Dodt (Aus) 73 74, J Kruger (RSA) 75 72, P Maddy (Eng) 70 77,

 148 A Otaegui  (Esp) 75 73, C Lee (Sco) 71 77, T Murray (Eng) 75 73, S Hutsby  (Eng) 75 73, R Dinwiddie  (Eng) 72 76, A Pavan (Ita) 69 79,

 149 S Hansen (Den) 76 73, M Nixon (Eng) 71 78,

 150 M Manassero (Ita) 75 75, R Karlsson (Swe) 79 71, P Edberg (Swe) 73 77,

 151 Y Yang (Kor) 77 74, A Hortal  (Esp) 68 83, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 79 72,

 152 R Gonzalez (Arg) 75 77, R Green (Aus) 76 76, N Dougherty  (Eng) 74 78, R Finch  (Eng) 79 73, A Tadini (Ita) 74 78, C Bouniol (Fra) 74 78, S Jäger (Ger) 75 77,

 153 S Hend (Aus) 75 78, P Mejow (Ger) 77 76,

 155 O Wilson (Eng) 76 79, B Evans  (Eng) 81 74,

 156 M Lundberg (Swe) 74 82, T Levet (Fra) 73 83,
 166 J Jeong (Kor) 81 85,
 ** J Palmer (Eng) 81 WD, R McEvoy  (Eng) 73 RT, T Pieters  (Bel) 80 WD,