Forrest four off the lead   in France Open   Tom Murray finished Day Two of the Hauts de France Golf Open the way he began it — with a three-shot lead. The Englishman showed no signs of tension as he opened with a string of pars before birdies on the fifth, sixth and ninth holes further increased his advantage over the field. Turning in three under par 33, Murray appeared to be in control of his golf ball following a birdie on the difficult par four 12th. However, a pair of dropped shots over the remaining holes would cut his sizable six-stroke lead in half. Despite the hiccup down the stretch, the 28 year old was happy with where he stood after his second consecutive sub-par round at the undulating Saint-Omer Golf Club. “If you had given me eight under after two rounds on Thursday morning, especially with the weather we had, I definitely would have taken it,” said Murray. “I wasn’t brilliant today, but I just missed it in the right spots, stayed patient and putted nicely.” Faced with another night of sleeping on the lead, the Manchester native will aim to keep things simple. “It’s not rocket science, really. You just hit the first tee shot where you want to hit it, then get the ball on the correct bit of the green and then just stay patient,” he said. Hot on the trail are two players who will look to close the gap on Day Three. Stuart Manley, who sits in the sixth position on the Road to Ras Al Khaimah, is perhaps the most in-form player in the field. After advancing to a play-off last week, but failing to lift the trophy, the Welshman will be as determined as ever to hunt down the leading Murray and solidify his place inside the top 15 with a win. Joining him in second place is Dutchman Daan Huizing, whose rounds of 69-68 have featured only three bogeys across two days of strong winds and difficult scoring conditions. The low round of Day Two belonged to France’s own Mathieu Fenasse, who made seven birdies and a lone bogey as he moved 68 spots up the leaderboard into a share of eighth while tying the best 18-hole score of the week so far. “I’ve always liked this course and I putted really well today,” the Frenchman said. “Now I have to keep doing what I’m doing, stay in the present, focus shot-by-shot, try to do my best and we’ll see what happens.” A total of 63 players survived the 36-hole cut and advanced to the weekend on a day where tee times were pushed back one hour due to thick morning fog. SECOND-ROUND SCORES Par 142 (2x71) 134 T Murray (Eng) 65 69 137 D Huizing (Netherlands) 69 68, S Manley (Wales) 68 69 138 F Bergamaschi (Ita) 70 68, B Virto (Spn) 70 68, G Forrest (Sco) 72 66, R Sciot-Siegrist (Fra) 68 70  139 A Arnaus (Spn) 70 69, N Geyger (Chi) 73 66, J Quesne (Fra) 70 69, L Johnston (Sco) 73 66, M Fenasse (Fra) 74 65 140 R Santos (Portugal) 72 68, R Saxton (Netherlands) 71 69, R Roussel (Fra) 70 70, E Dubois (Fra) 73 67, B Stow (Eng) 74 66, M Lundberg (Swe) 71 69, G Stal (Fra) 71 69 141 B Evans (Eng) 72 69, S Henry (Sco) 69 72, M Haastrup (Denmark) 71 70, T Cocha (Arg) 72 69  142 A Snobeck (Fra) 69 73, J Rutherford (Eng) 72 70, J Sainz (Esp) 68 74, N Johansson (Swe) 71 71, M Orrin (Eng) 74 68 143 R Van West (Netherlands) 71 72, E España (Fra) 73 70, R Davies (Wales) 77 66, J Erkenbeck (USA) 72 71, R Kakko (Finland) 73 70, P Maddy (Eng) 70 73, Ó Serna (Mexico) 75 68, A Meronk (Poland) 68 75, J Lando Casanova (Fra) 70 73 144 J McDonald (Sco) 75 69, G Porteous (Eng) 73 71, T Cruz (Portugal) 74 70, R Langasque (Fra) 71 73, H Joannes (Belgium) 71 73, E Johansen (Norway) 69 75, E Ferguson (Sco) 70 74, J Gonnet (Fra) 70 74, A Renard (Fra) 72 72, M Madsen (Denmark) 74 70, L Nemecz (Austria) 76 68, J Doherty (Sco) 73 71, F Laporta (Ita) 71 73 145 L Van Meijel (Ned) 70 75, J Singh Brar (Eng) 72 73, L Ruuska (Fin) 69 76, J Abbott (Eng) 70 75, J Parry (Eng) 75 70, R Kellett (Sco) 71 74, H Smart (Eng) 75 70, S Garcia Rodriguez (Spn) 72 73, A Grenier (Fra) 73 72, D Perrier (Fra) 71 74, R MacIntyre (Sco) 74 71, S Benson (Eng) 74 71, A Rozner (Fra) 72 73 146 J Senior (Eng) 74 72, M Trappel (Austria) 73 73, E Lipparelli (Ita) 73 73, P Figueiredo (Portugal) 76 70, B Hafthorsson (Iceland) 75 71, C Mivis (Belgium) 75 71, J Stalter (Fra) 71 75, E Cuartero Blanco (Spn) 73 73, J Segurola (Spn) 75 71, S Tiley (Eng) 72 74, S Matus (Czech) 71 75 147 J Brun (Fra) 74 73, J Coupade (Fra) 74 73, J Kunzenbacher (Ger) 75 72, J Ford (Eng) 71 76, D Stewart (Sco) 73 74, J Lima (Portugal) 73 74, M Ovesen (Denmark) 74 73, 148 R Hjelm (Denmark) 77 71, P Tarver-Jones (Eng) 74 74, N Tacher (Fra) 71 77, D Brown (Eng) 73 75, K Hesbois (Belgium) 73 75, A Chapman (Eng) 76 72, P McBride (Ire) 69 79, O Bekker (SAf) 69 79, J Sarasti (Esp) 75 73, D Law (Sco) 73 75, V Riu (Fra) 74 74, T Tree (Eng) 77 71 149 G Hurley (Ire) 76 73, M Calderon (Chile) 69 80, A Rosaye (Fra) 73 76, M Altmeyer (Fra) 72 77, J Lopez Lazaro (Fra) 80 69, L Vaisanen (Finland) 75 74, V Perez (Fra) 77 72, H Leon (Chile) 73 76, B Eccles (Australia) 72 77, N Marsh (Eng) 73 76, S Einhaus (Ger) 74 75, J Pastor (Spn) 76 73, D Boote (Wales) 77 72, D Van Driel (Netherlands) 77 72, L Acikalin (Turkey) (am) 80 69 150 M Søgaard (Denmark) 76 74, J Caldwell (NIre) 75 75, W Besseling (Netherlands) 77 73, C Batut (Fra) 75 75, F Aguilar (Chile) 74 76, R Finch (Eng) 74 76, R Fitzgerald (Eng) 77 73, C Del Moral (Spn) 74 76, P Mejow (Ger) 76 74 151 T Linard (Fra) 76 75, C Sharvin (NIre) 78 73, A Guerin (Fra) 79 72, V Marchiset (Fra) 76 75, S Crocker (USA) 77 74, B Easton (SAf) 73 78, H Rouillon (Fra) (am) 78 73, A Telli (Turkey) (am)  81 70 152 S Gandon (Fra) 75 77 153 R Marguery (Fra) 82 71, A Boasson (Isl) 73 80, U Coussaud (Fra) 80 73, A Tadini (Ita) 77 76, B Kedochim (Fra) 82 71, M Hoey (Nir) 83 70, 154 S Forsström (Swe) 81 73, J Zunic (Aus) 77 77, F Maccario (Ita) 75 79, M Lampert (Ger) 78 76, A Bernadet (Fra) 82 72 155 V Østerby (Den) 78 77, M Rohwer (SAf) 77 78, P Shields (Sco) 72 83, J Munro (Australia) 71 84, J Adarraga Gomez (Esp) 80 75 156 S Testelin (Fra) 82 74 158 J Voisard (Fra) 76 82, F Mory (Fra) (am) 82 76 160 Å Nilsson (Swe) 78 82 161 G Naveau (am) (Fra) 79 82  162 O Rozner (Fra) 84 78, P Valasek (Svk) 82 80  164 M Galiano Aguilar (Spn) 78 86 ** S Dyson (Eng) 78 WD, S Hutsby (Eng) 74 RT, N Kimsey (Eng) 78 WD, J White (Eng) 80 WD, J Vecchi Fossa (Ita) 82 WD, M Sarling (Eng) RT 0,

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