Uihlein leaves it late at Le Golf National
Round Two Report Peter Uihlein left it late to seize a share of the halfway lead in the HNA Open de France – the second tournament in the European Tour’s Rolex Series. Play was suspended for two hours at 5pm due to a thunderstorm over Le Golf National, meaning Uihlein, who was playing in the final group off the first tee, did not finish his second round until 9.10pm. It was worth the wait for the 27 year old who added to his two birdies on the front nine before the suspension with three consecutive birdies from the 13th hole after the resumption as he surged to the top of the leaderboard. He then dropped his only shot of the 17th hole to join Spain’s Adrian Otaegui on eight under par after Otaegui had earlier set the clubhouse target with a round of 66 in the morning session. England’s Tommy Fleetwood, who is currently second on the European Tour’s Race to Dubai, continued his impressive recent form by safely negotiating the final three holes after the suspension in level par for a round of 68. He is a shot behind the leaders in a share of third place with Sweden’s Alexander Björk (69), with first round leader Paul Waring of England on six under par after a one over par round of 72. Former World Number One Lee Westwood moved into the top ten with a round of 67 to sit four strokes back on four under par while Spain’s Jon Rahm, who is making his debut in a regular European Tour event, goes into the weekend a further shot adrift on three under par after signing for a 69. Player Quotes Peter Uihlein "I've holed a decent amount of putts, which I didn't do at all at the U.S. Open. So to kind of come, I guess a week and a half later, and start hole some putts and making a few, it takes a lot of pressure off a lot of things. Makes it a little more comforting. "It was a good day. I hit it pretty good. Made some nice putts I guess. I was pretty steady, really, so it was all right. Any time you go 34 holes without a bogey anywhere you're doing okay. "Still have 36 holes left, so you never know. But I think any time you can kind of get off to, put yourself into contention after two days is where you want to be and see where you're at as the weekend plays out." Adrian Otaegui “I made a bogey on the second and missed a five iron just on the right and couldn't make the up-and-down. And after that, I played great from the tee and made good swings with the driver and the three wood from the tee. “I made a birdie on six with a good second shot and chipped on nine. That helped, as well. Then played really well on the second nine. I hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens, and then I was lucky, as well, to hole two long putts, so I’m happy with the round. “I made a few changes on my swing the week off just before Germany and looks like it's on the right way. It looks like it's working well. I just have to keep working on that.” Tommy Fleetwood “It's always quite tricky when you have to go back out. It was a shame because I felt like I had a lovely rhythm again today. So you don't want to come in. But it was fine. At least we got to finish. It's nice to finish this evening than getting up early tomorrow morning and coming back. The last two holes, 17, 18, are a couple of tough holes. A couple of pars there is a nice end to the day really.” Paul Waring “I would have taken the score through 36 holes. Obviously I really got it going yesterday. I gave myself a couple of chances out there today, but I just didn't hole enough of the shorter putts. “There are some really tough flags out there at times. The 17th and fourth were playing really tough into the teeth of the wind. We had a little bit of rain there, as well. It was a bit of a different golf course today. It was a little harder, it demanded a bit more from you, really.” Round Two Scores Par 142 (2x71) 134 P Uihlein (USA) 67 67, A Otaegui (Esp) 68 66 135 A Björk (Swe) 66 69, T Fleetwood (Eng) 67 68 136 P Waring (Eng) 64 72, N Kimsey (Eng) 66 70 137 R Fisher (Eng) 70 67, T Pieters (Bel) 66 71, G Storm (Eng) 71 66 138 G Bourdy (Fra) 70 68, B Dredge (Wal) 69 69, T Olesen (Den) 69 69, R Langasque (Fra) 73 65, R Rock (Eng) 71 67, R Karlberg (Swe) 68 70, A Sullivan (Eng) 68 70, L Westwood (Eng) 71 67, 139 H Porteous (RSA) 72 67, K Broberg (Swe) 68 71, M Kieffer (Ger) 71 68, G Havret (Fra) 73 66, B Wiesberger (Aut) 70 69, D Drysdale (Sco) 70 69, S Hend (Aus) 69 70, F Aguilar (Chi) 72 67, J Rahm (Esp) 70 69, N Bertasio (Ita) 69 70, 140 N Fasth (Swe) 70 70, M Korhonen (Fin) 72 68, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 71 69, J Luiten (Ned) 69 71, T Aiken (RSA) 73 67, R Fox (Nzl) 73 67, A Levy (Fra) 69 71, N Elvira (Esp) 72 68, A Johnston (Eng) 72 68, A Noren (Swe) 69 71, 141 C Shinkwin (Eng) 69 72, L Haotong (Chn) 71 70, F Molinari (Ita) 71 70, P Larrazábal (Esp) 68 73, F Zanotti (Par) 69 72, I Poulter (Eng) 72 69, J Donaldson (Wal) 72 69, A Saddier (Fra) 68 73, J Fahrbring (Swe) 71 70, T Fisher Jnr (RSA) 71 70, F Fritsch (Ger) 67 74, 142 J Smith (Eng) 70 72, M Kaymer (Ger) 69 73, J Lagergren (Swe) 70 72, D Perrier (Fra) 71 71, G Stal (Fra) 69 73, C Wood (Eng) 72 70, O Fisher (Eng) 73 69, P Dunne (Irl) 70 72, J Scrivener (Aus) 73 69, M Siem (Ger) 69 73, C Hanson (Eng) 72 70, L Jensen (Den) 73 69, P Angles (Esp) 72 70, E Pepperell (Eng) 71 71, D Im (USA) 70 72, R Sterne (RSA) 73 69, 143 D Brooks (Eng) 72 71, N Colsaerts (Bel) 70 73, S Gros (Fra) 73 70, J Quesne (Fra) 71 72, R Gouveia (Por) 73 70, T Bjørn (Den) 73 70, T Jaidee (Tha) 72 71, P Khongwatmai (Tha) 71 72 MISSED THE CUT   144 S Manley (Wal) 72 72, M Pavon (Fra) 74 70, J Stalter (Fra) 74 70, A Dodt (Aus) 73 71, L Bjerregaard (Den) 71 73, A Cañizares (Esp) 72 72, S Lee (SKor) 72 72, C Sordet (Fra) 71 73, E Dubois (Fra) 72 72, T Hatton (Eng) 74 70, 145 J Campillo (Esp) 74 71, R Jacquelin (Fra) 75 70, G McDowell (Nir) 69 76, H Otto (RSA) 72 73, B Rumford (Aus) 70 75, C Berardo (Fra) 69 76, C Shih-Chang (Tpe) 73 72, J Van Zyl (RSA) 72 73, E Molinari (Ita) 73 72, R Bland (Eng) 74 71, B Ritthammer (Ger) 73 72, D Willett (Eng) 72 73, 146 J Guerrier (Fra) 71 75, M Wallace (Eng) 72 74, W Ashun (Chn) 75 71, A Quiros (Esp) 74 72, S Kjeldsen (Den) 73 73, D Fichardt (RSA) 72 74, M Armitage (Eng) 71 75, D Howell (Eng) 73 73, B Stone (RSA) 69 77, R Karlsson (Swe) 70 76, R Knox (Sco) 72 74, 147 R Paratore (Ita) 77 70, S Gallacher (Sco) 72 75, E De La Riva (Esp) 76 71, D Stewart (Sco) 69 78, P Hanson (Swe) 72 75, D Frittelli (RSA) 73 74, L Yan-Wei (Chn) 69 78, R Ramsay (Sco) 74 73, M Ilonen (Fin) 74 73, J Kruger (RSA) 72 75, T Detry (Bel) 72 75, 148 M Manassero (Ita) 75 73, M Fraser (Aus) 73 75, A Chesters (Eng) 71 77, T Immelman (RSA) 75 73, Z Lombard (RSA) 73 75, C Paisley (Eng) 72 76, T Linard (Fra) 71 77, S Jamieson (Sco) 74 74, R Wattel (Fra) 75 73, 149 M Southgate (Eng) 76 73, J Morrison (Eng) 72 77, S Heisele (Ger) 76 73, J Lima (Por) 73 76, M Fitzpatrick (Eng) 76 73, M Foster (Eng) 72 77, S Brazel (Aus) 78 71, V Dubuisson (Fra) 72 77, D Burmester (RSA) 75 74, 150 G Coetzee (RSA) 68 82, M Carlsson (Swe) 73 77, C Pigem (Esp) 73 77, J Walters (RSA) 71 79, 151 S Dyson (Eng) 70 81, S Lowry (Irl) 74 77, 152 D Lipsky (USA) 76 76, 153 B Hebert (Fra) 79 74, 154 H Tanihara (Jpn) 73 81, L Slattery (Eng) 77 77, S Walker (Eng) 73 81, J Olazábal (Esp) 73 81, A Knappe (Ger) 74 80, 155 P Peterson (USA) 77 78, 156 M Warren (Sco) 77 79, 157 W Ormsby (Aus) 81 76, 158 J Carlsson (Swe) 75 83, 159 A Romero (Arg) 77 82, 160 D Clarke (Nir) 84 76, ** K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 78 DQ, J Wang (Kor) 74 RT, A Wall (Eng) RT 0,